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DACCA. 



By JAMES TAYLOR, 

SURGEON. 



^rinttlr is (9rl»r at €fobtrnment. 



CALCUTTA: 



G. a HUTTMANN, MILITARY ORPHAN PRESS. 

II 



1840. 



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CONTENTS. 



FIKST SECTION.— CHAPTER I. 

Fagb 
General Remarks — Divisions — Physical Aspect and Boundaries — Soil — 
Rirers — Climate, 1 

CHAPTER II. 
Animal, Vegetable and Mineral Productions, • ••••• 19 

SECOND SECTION —CHAPTER III. 
A Sketch of the History of the District, «.. 63 

CHAPTER IV. 

The City — Towns — Villages and Pergunnahs — Roads and Means of Com- 
munication, ....k ............••• 86 



CHAPTER V. 

Agriculture — Husbandry — Land Measures — Rent and Ryotts — Talookdars 
— Zemindars....... 122 

CHAPTER VI. 

Arts of Weaving — Embroidery — Bleaching — Gold and Silver Work- 
Manufacture of Shell Bracelets — List of Professions, Trades and 
Occupations in the City — Commerce — Decline of Commerce, 161 

CHAPTER VIL 

Revenue during the Mogul Government — Ditto since the commencement 
of the Hon'ble Company's Administration — Civil Administration of 
the District and Local Occurrences since 1765, ••.•• .••• 191 



IV CONTENTS. 

THIRD SECTION.— CHAPTER VIII. 

Pagb 
Population — Hiodoos— Mahommedans — CbristianSy ••• ••.. 221 

CHAPTER IX. 

Character, Manners, Dress, Customs and Amusements — Education — 
Litigation, Crime and its Physical Causes, 255 

CHAPTER X, 

Articles of Food — Cause and Effect of Plenty and Scarcity — Wages of 
Labor — Condition of the Poor and of Slaves, 288 

CHAPTER XI. 

Medical Topography — Diseases — Accidents — Hospitals — Diseases of lower 
Animals, 322 

CHAPTER XII. 

Concluding remarks on the decline of Manufactures and Population, and 
on the General decay of the City — Means and suggestions regarding 
its improyement, • .,••• • ••... ,•••• 363 



"■'■ r 



To 

JAMES HUTCHINSON, Esq., 

Secretary of the Medical Boards 

Fort William. 

Sir, 

111 compliance with the requisition 
addressed to Medical Officers, to furnish reports on 
the Topography and Statistics of their respective Dis- 
tricts and Stations, I have the honor to present to the 
Medical Board the annexed " Sketch of the Topogra- 
phy and Statistics of Dacca." 

The subject! of enquiry specified in the Memoran- 
dum by the Right Honorable the Governor General 
in Council, in the Circular addressed by the Medical 
Board to Superintending Surgeons, and in a Circular 
Order published in Government General Orders, are, 
viz. 1 — The situation and boundaries of the place. 
2 — Rivers, Lakes, Wells and Morasses. 3 — Climate. 
4 — Soil. 5 — Animal, Vegetable and Mineral Produc- 
tions. 6 — States of Agriculture. 7 — Roads and Com- 
munications. 8 — Diseases, endemic and epidemic. 
9 — State of Hospitals, with the dimensions of their 
apartments. 10 — Population with a description of the 
dwellings, clothing, bedding, fuel, diet, customs, rear- 
ing of children and amusements. 11 — Tables of Mar- 
riages, Births, Diseases and Deaths. 12 — Diseases of 
Cattle and others of the lower animals. 13 — Diseases 
of Plants. 1 4 — Census of population. 1 5 — Cause and 
effect of scarcity and plenty. 16 — ^Condition of the 



VI PREFACE. 

poor and their subsistence. 17 — ^Wages of labor. 18 — 
Physical cause of Crime. 19 — Ratio of mortality. 20 
— Ordinary proportion of births to marriages. 21 — 
Area of the district. Comparative productiveness of 
lands, habits of the people and proportion of Hindoos 
to Mussulmauns. 

In addition to my remarks on most of these subjects, 
I have given a sketch of the history of the district, 
and a brief account of its Manufactures, Commerce 
Revenue and state of Education. The information 
I have been enabled to give on all these points, I may 
further observe, has been derived from personal know- 
ledge acquired during a residence of eight years at 
the station, from the perusal of the records belonging 
to the different public offices and from enquiries among 
people of all ranks and classes residing in the town and 
country. I am greatly indebted to Mr. J. Grant, the 
Magistrate, for his assistance in enabling me to com- 
plete a census of the city ; to Mr. Lamb, for the 
observations on climate which are entirely drawn from 
Meteorological Registers kept by him during the last 
ten years ; and to Gunga Churun and Gunga Doss, 
two respectable natives of the city, for information 
connected with the manufacture of muslins. 

I have the honor to be, 

Sir, 
Your obedient Servant, 

JAMES TAYLOR, 

Surgeon. 
Calcutta^ March 30, 1839. 



TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS 



OF 



DACCA. 



GENERAL REMARKS — DIVISIONS — PHY- 
SICAL ASPECT AND BOUNDARIES— SOIL- 
RIVERS AND CLIMATE. 

The district of Dacca is situated in the eastern 5'tn««>on^ 

aod bounnariet 

part of the province of Bengal, and is in- of the disirict. 
eluded principally between the 23d and 24th 
degrees of North Latitude and in 90** of East 
Longitude. The tract of country which 
constitutes the extent of the Magistrate's 
jurisdiction, lies between the Ganges, Ber- 
hampooter and Megna, and in shape resem- 
bles that of a triangle with the base extend- 
ing from east to west, and the apex situated 
towards the confluence of the two latter 
rivers. It is surrounded by the districts of 
Mymunsing on the north, Backergunge on 
the south,' Tiperali on the east, and Pureed- 
pore or Dacca Jellalpore on the west. For- 
merly, these several zillahs were subordinate 
to it, and the whole formed a province of 
15,397 square miles in extent. Its extreme 
length from north to south is estimated at 70, 

A 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



Its extent. 



Distance 
from the Sea. 



and its greatest breadth at 59 geographical 
miles, but its area does not exceed 1,750 
square miles ; and of this extent of surface, 
it is computed, that one-third is uncultivated, 
and covered with jungle, vrhile a seventh part 
is occupied by the channels of rivers and 
creeks. At its southern extremity, it is about 
80 miles distant from the sea ; and is in- 
tersected throughout its whole extent by- 
branches of large rivers, that inundate 8-lOths 
of its surface, to a depth varying from two to 
fourteen feet of water, during a considerable 
portion of the year. With reference to its 
physical aspect and to the nature, elevation 
and comparative productiveness of the soil, 
the district may be divided into two portions, 
of which the rivers Conoi, Dullasery, Boori- 
gonga and Issamutty form the line of de- 
marcation. 



Northern 
DifiBioo. 



The northern division of the district has 
an area of about 900 square miles. It is 
bounded on the east by tlie Megna, on 
the north by the Berhampooter, a part 
of the Banar, and by a line extend- 
ing through the dense jungle of the Attyah 
and Cossimpore forests, to the village of 
Umtah on the Conoi ; while on the west and 
south it has for its boundaries the Conoi, the 
upper portion of the Dullasery, the Boori- 
gonga, and the Issamutty, from the point where 
that river receives the Dullasery, down to its 
junction with the Megna. The river Luckia 
intersects this tract from north to south. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 3 

Of the two sub-divisions which are thus westemMib- 
formed, the western one contains the city, and 
is of the largest extent. The greater part of 
it is considerably above the highest level of 
the surrounding rivers in ordinary seasons of 
inundation ; and at the distance of twenty 
miles north of the tow/i, rises into hilly ridges 
of about twenty feet in height, which run 
parallel to the great boundary ranges of 
mountains. The soil consists of red kunkur soii conmsts 

of red kouk,ur> 

and of different strata of clay, covered in the 
more elevated places with a thin layer of 
vegetable mould, and towards the rivers and 
creeks, with alluvial earth. This sub-division 
forms ap part of an extensive tract of country, 
that possesses the same characters of soil and 
elevation, and runs in a north-west direction , 
to Moodapore in the district of Mymunsing. 
It comprehends within its limits, a consi- 
derable portion of the Pergunnah of Attyah, 
and measuring it from Dacca, its south-east 
point, to Moodapore, its termination on the 
north-west, the whole tract may be said to 
extend about 70 miles in length, and 30 in 
breadth, from Chamtara on the west, to Nandia 
on the east. The hilly ridges by which it is Smaii moan- 
characterized, occur in small ranges, which *"* ^^s^ 
increase in size and number, as we proceed 
to the west and north-west, and are at last 
terminated by a ridge of a somewhat higher 
elevation, running from north to south in a 
line parallel to the Tiperah range. These 
different ranges vary from twenty to fifty 
feet in height, and consist of the red soil 



4 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

The northern Containing in its composition a considerable 
kunku" forma! quantity of iron ore. Th£ whole northern 
tion uiipro uc- ^^^ ^^ ^j^.^ elcvatcd tract of kunkur forma- 
tion, which is included in the district of 
Mymunsing, lies^it may further be observed, 
between the Berhampooter and its principal 
branch the Jenai, and ^ with regard to its 
physical features, is chiefly remarkable for 
the small size of the streams by which it is 
watered, particularly when contrasted with 
the immense rivers that traverse the alluvial 
plains on every side. Hence the greater por- 
tion of it is an unproductive waste. It is 
Overran with ovorrun with douso jungle? contains in its 
fM(edby°wiw Central parts forests of gigantic trees? and is 
**"'*' infested with elephants, tigers, leopards and 

bears. The few cultivated spots that occur, 
are confined to the borders of the jungle, 
and stretch for some way along the banks of 
the small streams that intersect its interior. 
Further to the south, however, and in the 
direction of the city, cultivation is more ex- 
tended : here, the red soil is intersected by 
the beds of creeks, and in the interior by 
large mgrasses, around which, crops of rice, 
mustard and sesamum are raised, while allu- 
vial soil appears to the east of the town, 
forming an extensive cultivated plain, which 
reaches to the junction of the Boorigonga 
and Luckia rivers. 

The eastern The eastcm sub-division is situated between 

■ub-di vision. 

the Luckia and Megna. It is inundated to a 
greater extent, and has a considerably larger 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. O 

proportion of alluvial surface than the western More pm. 

* '^ /I • • i_ duclive than 

one. The red soil occurs chiefly in its northern the wesiem. 
part, and on the side towards the Megna, 
where it re-appears in the form of hilly 
ridges, which run up to the eastern angle 
of the district, formed by the junction of 
that river and the Berhampooter. This sub- 
division has fewer primitive forests, and 
is in a higher state of cultivation than the 
western one. It formed a portion of the 
ancient Circar of Sonergong, and in its 
uncultivated parts is now covered with brush- 
wood jungle, interspersed with fruit trees, 
tanks, and mounds of earth, which shew that 
it was at one time the site of populous 
villages* 

The southern division embraces an area of southern 
about 850 square miles, and is by far the ^*'*"°"- 
most fertile portion of the district. It has 
for its boundaries the Issamutty and Megna 
on the east, the Ganges on the west, the 
Ariel or Churan Morass, the Ariel and 
Toolsey creeks, and the DuUasery and Boori- 
gonga rivers on the north and north-west ; 
and on the south, it is separated from the 
district of Backergunge, by a line, which is n, boanda- 
not well defined, stretching across from Sad- 
duckpore on the Megna, to Machuacally on 
the Ganges, and skirting in its course the 
villages of Sidda, Chagong, and Doobey, and 
running through the centre of that of Khusal- 
berg in the Pergunnah of Russoolpore. The 
whole of this tract of country is of rich 



ries. 



ruius. 



6 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

ii» soil. alluvial soil, andis inundated, duringtherains, 
to a depth varying from two to' fourteen feet 
of water. The northern portion of this divi- 
sion, with the adjacent country as high up 
as Jaffergunge in the district of Pureed pore, 
is of a much lower level than the lands on 
the western bank of the Ganges, and is 
inundated at an earlier period in the season, 
and continues submerged for a considerably 
longer time than the country to the westward. 
More or less The depth of watcr in its central parts, at 
dkirhlg^he the height of the inundation, varies from 
eight to fourteen feet, but along the banks 
of the rivers, it seldom exceeds two cubits. 
This difference is owing to the banks of the 
rivers being more elevated than the lands in 
the interior. The accession of soil in the 
former situation, takes place when the inun- 
dation begins to subside, and extends but to a 
short distance from the margins of the rivers. 
It is produced by the water first depositing 
its heavier |)articles of clay, while what 
passes off, retains silicious sand in suspension, 
which, together with decayed vegetable sub- 
stances, is what chiefly contributes to the 
gradual elevation of the inland parts of the 
country. The whole tract of country, which 
is thus subject to inundation, extending from 
Dacca on the east to Pureed pore on the west, 
a distance of forty miles, and from Bickram- 
pore on the south to Jaffergunge, and thence 
into the district of Nattore on the north-west, 
about 100 miles in extent is overflowed by the 
middle of July. At this season of the year 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 7 

it presents the appearance of an extensive comH*Jdu',|lJg 
plain covered with growing rice, through ^herbioi. 
which boats sail from one part of the country 
to another. The course of the rivers at a 
distance is indicated by belts of trees along 
their banks, while the interior of the plain is 
studded with villages, built upon artificial 
mounds of earth raised above the height of 
the inundation. These little islands vary in 
extent, some of them only affording room for 
the huts of two or three families of ryotts with 
their cattle, while others are of a considerable 
size, and are covered with villages and 
gardens. 

The alluvial soil of the northern divi- «oii and its 
sion has a large proportion of silicious 
sand mixed with mica in its composition. 
The Churs of the Berhampooter and Megua 
are of a much lighter and drier nature than 
those of the Ganges, and it appears to be 
owing to the presence of this silica and mica, 
and to the comparatively small quantity of 
argillaceous earth, that the water of the Ber- 
hampooter is so much clearer than that of the 
Granges. Ferruginous kunkur soil predomi- 
nates in the northern division. Calcareous caicareoui 
kunkur prevails also in this part of the district, 
and forms a portion of the beds of the rivers 
Banar and Bansa. It occurs in different situ- 
ations^being found upon the surface in some 
places, and in others at a depth of several 
feet beneath the white and black clay. The 
black vegetable mould is of various degrees 



kaokur. 



8 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



tawi"moal?^' of depth : in several situations it occurs in 
beds of a considerable extent and depth, and 
approaches to lignite in appearance. In the 
beds of the deep mol-asses in the southern 
division there are found small nodular 
masses of earth which appear to be composed 
of decayed vegetable matter : they are hard 
compact bodies of a jet black colour, and of 
so fine a substance, that when pulverized they 
are occasionally used by the natives to make 
ink. In the vicinity of the large lake near 
Fureedpore, this earth has been found in 
digging wells, at a depth of 30 feet below the 
surface. White, yellow, and blue clays are 
found in the northern division. In the town, 
the average depth of the red kunkur soil is 
fifteen feet, below which yellow clay is found, 
forming a bed of five or six feet in depth, and 
beneath this there occurs a stratum of fine 
Water, and saud. Water is found at a depth varying from 

wbicb found. 18 to 22 fcct, accordiug to the depth of the 
super-stratum of alluvial soil and to the height 
of the rivers. There are several springs of 
water in the northern division, viz. one at 
Moodapore at the extremity of the kunkur 
Springs. tract, a second at Mirzapore, north of the 
city, and I believe, a third near Bermya or 
Plass. 



Different 

clajrs. 



Rivers. 



The district is intersected by branches 
of the Ganges, Berhampooter and Megna, 
which ramify into numerous creeks in 
the interior. Several of the large rivers, 
since they were surveyed by Rennel, in the 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 9 



Alleratiofiflio 
courses. 



year 1780, have undergone great deviations ^^^" 
in their course ; and by the new channels 
which they have worked out for themselves, 
and the formation of extensive alluvial tracts, 
they have greatly altered the aspect of the 
country, and have occasioned a correspond- 
ing change in the relative position of many 
places (as laid down in his maps,) in the 
southern division of the district. The Ganges The Pudda 

- or GdDges. 

or Puddu forms at one place the western 
boundary of the district, and separates it 
from the zillahs of Pureed pore and Backer- 
gunge, from the point, where the Kidder- 
pore creek is sent off, to join the Churan 
Morass, down to Matchuacally on the south. 
Instead of continuing its course, as laid down 
by Rennel, to join the Megna at Mendi- 
gunge, it now sends the great body of its 
water through two channels considerably to 
the north of this place. The first of these 
channels, which is represented as the Calli* '"'*'« ^Cjih- 
fi^onga in Rennel's maps, is now called the n^i now called 

^ , ^ _, *^ _ the Kiniuessa. 

Kirtinessa, or Seeripore river. It runs a 
little to the north of Rajanaghur and Mol- 
futgimge, and is considered to be the prin- 
cipal branch of the Ganges. It is from three 
to four miles in width, and has a very strong 
current at its most contracted part, between 
the mouth of the Rajanaghur creek and the 
projecting point of land at Seeripore on its 
opposite bank, which renders navigation by 
small boats dangerous during the rains. The 
Kirtinessa joins the Megna to the north of 
Cartickpore, having converted the interven- 
ing land (laid down in Renners Maps as the 

B 



10 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

islands of Jirampore, Kistnapore and Po- 
momra) into an extensive tract of country, 
now called Ballishya. The second great 
Ba^u^^^* branch of the Ganges is the l^ya Bagnee. 
This river is situated in the Zillah of 
Backergunge, but close upon the confines 
of the Dacca district. It comes off below 
Matchuacally, and joins the Megna a little 
south of Sadduckpore (a boundary village 
of the district) : about the middle of its course, 
it sends off two large branches, which after 
inclosing a considerable tract of land, re- 
unite and meet the Laitoo river at Dadpore. 
The Nya Bagnee is almost equal to the 
of^hTca^rM Kirtinessa in size. The original channel of 
byRl^nueurw '^^ Gaugcs, from Gumuddy to near the 
almost dry. station of Burrisaul, (as its course is laid 
down by Rennel), is now almost dry in 
the hot weather, the whole of it being nearly 
filled up with alluvial tracts, divided by broad 
shallows and a few channels navigable only by 
TheBerham. Small boats. The Bethampooter bounds the 
^^ ^^' district on the north-west, from a place called 

Toke, to where it meets the Megna issuing 
from the plains of Sylhet. During the rains, 
this river is about two miles wide, but for four 
months in the year, it is fordable, and in many 
places its channel is quite dry, the body of the 
water being carried off at this season by the 
ThcMegaa. jenai, Bansa and Banar. The Megna (the 
Magore of Ptolemy) is the boundary between 
the Dacca and Tiperah districts on the east. 
It is formed by the numerous tributaries from 
the Garrow and Cachar hills on the north, and 
by streams from the hills that separate Muni- 



» 



« 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA* U 

pore from Cachar and Sylhet on the east. ^f^J*/^ ***• 
This river, before it joins the Berhampooter, 
is upwards of a mile wide, and is of great 
depth. The area of country, which it drains, 
is computed at 6,000 square miles, and with 
reference to this limited extent of surface, it 
probably conveys a larger body of water than 
any river in India. The Berhampooter is 
the chief source, from whence all the other, 
rivers of the district derive their supply of 
water. A little above the Military Canton- 
ment of Jumalpore, the Berhampooter sends 
off two branches, which unite about fourteen 
miles below that station, forming a wide river 
that takes the name of Jenai or Jumoona, and „o^^^" °'''"" 
which runs a course of about 50 miles ; it 
divides into two large branches, one named 
Bhubunassia, which joins the Ganges at 
Jaffergunge, while the other, which is the 
larger of the two, after receiving the Lojun 
and Conoi, forms the DuUasery. The Dulla- ^J^^ d«"»- 
sety was formerly a branch of the Ganges, 
but it is now entirely filled by the Jenai. 
It has changed its course to the eastward**-* 
running through the Garically creek, which 
is represented by Rennel as a channel of 
inconsiderable size, though now a river of 
about two miles in breadth in the rains. The '^^ ^^^ 
Baorig<mgat which was formerly the origi- 
nal bed of the Ganges, is now a branch of 
the DuUasery. After running a course of 
about 25 miles, it re-unites with its parent 
stream a little to the north of Naraingunge. 
The DuUasery and Boorigonga constitute 
the chief outlet of the water of the Ber- 



12 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Ci»y situat. liampooter, and the city, therefore, which 
branches of the staiids OQ the northcm bank of the latter 

Berham pooler. . . . , _ _ *_ 

river, is now situated between two branches 
of the Berhampooter, instead of on the 
eastern bank of the Ganges, as was the 

other rivere. casc fopmcrly. The other rivers, which may 
be noticed here, are the Sansa, Banar^ 

TheBanaa. LtLcMu and Issawutty. The Bansa comes 
oflf from the Berhampooter below Jumalpore. 
It proceeds in a south-east direction through 
the kunkur soil of the Attyah forest, and 
joins the Dullasery near Sabar : it runs a 
longer course than any of the second rate 
rivers connected with the district, being 
upwards of 100 miles from its origin to its 

The Banar. termination. The Banar unites the Berham- 
pooter and Luckia. It has formed a deep bed 
for itself in the hard kunkur soil of the north- 
ern division, and in some places, is upwards 
of fifty feet in depth. The Luckia or Seetul 
The Luckia. (silvcr) Luckia, as it is sometimes called 
from the transparency of its water, is, as 
regards scenery, one of the finest rivers in 
the country. The upper part of its channel 
from Sargodee on the Berhampooter down to 
Ekdalla, is dry in the hot weather, but from 
this latter place, where it is joined by the 
Banar, it is navigable throughout the year 
down to its confluence with the Issamutty at 
Theiasamutty Narainguuge. The Issamutty is a branch 
of the Ganges. . After a winding course from 
the north to south in the low country be- 
tween the Ganges and DuUasery, it joins the 
Issamutty (now called the Ilsamaree) op- 
posite to the mouth of the Churan creek, 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 13 

where it divides into two branches. The »^^lL?"^®'" 

the loolsee 

Toolsee creek, which is represented, in Ren- ^"e*^- 

nel's Chart, as a small stream, is now the 

main channel of the Ilsamaree, while the other 

branch, which retains the name of Issamutty, 

proceeds to Pattergottah where it joins the 

Dullasery. The name of Issamutty is also 

given to the broad river formed by the union 

of the Boorigonga, Dullasery and Luckia 

rivers ; it runs a course of only a few miles 

from Pattergottah to its confluence with the 

Megna at Feringybazar. During the dry 

weather, the tide rises from 2 to 4 feet at new Tide rim 

and full moon, and is perceptible about 20 feet at Dacca, 

miles above the town, and also in the Luckia, ubie "so^mu^ 

as high up as Ekdalla. The Megna and towu. 

Berhampooter begin to rise earlier than the 

Ganges, and are frequently within a few feet 

of their usual full mark before the middle of 

June, when the Ganges above its junction 

with the branches of the Berhampooter has 

not risen perhaps more than three or four 

feet. The rise of the eastern rivers, depending Riw of the 

rivers aud the 

on heavy falls of rain in the hills bordering causes. 
on Assam and Sylhet, is often very sudden 
and destructive, and their fall is not unfre- 
quently equally rapid. Southerly winds pre- 
vailing in May or June, especially if there 
is no great fall of rain in Bengal, are generally 
followed by a rapid rise of the eastern rivers, 
about the middle or end of the latter month. 

The prevailing winds from April to Oc- Climate. 
tober are from the east and south-east. 



14 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

windg from In the latter month, when the strength of the 
ber. Monsoon becomes exhausted the wind is vari- 

able, being occasionally either northerly or 
westerly, although still more frequently from 
the east and south-east, and towards the end of 
the month there is almost always a gale or 
track of stormy weather from the south or 
east. The pleasantest, as well as the worst 
weather that occurs during the Monsoon, is 
experienced from the east. In April, May, 
June and July there is generally a gentle 
breeze during the early part of the day and at 
Wind abounds night : the wind abounds with moisture from 

wiih rooUture , i /» /• 

from April to swccpmg ovcr the surface of the large rivers? -f- 

and it thereby mitigates the heat, rendering 

the climate comparatively cool and pleasant 

at this season of the year. During these 

months, a breeze from the east usually brings 

light showers, but if a gale occurs, it almost 

invariably sets in from the same quarter, 

veering round to the north-east, and being 

apparently thrown back by the border ranges 

of mountains. The south and south-west 

winds generally bring heavy rain though 

From No. they scldom blow violently. From Novem- 

March blows bcr to March the wind is from the west, north 

w, *"° and north-west. It sets in from the former 

quarter, and as the cold weather advances, 
it draws round to the north, from which 
point it blows steadily for a few days, and 
then becomes variable, blowing some days 
from the north-west and at other times from 
the south-east. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



15 



The following statement shews the results 
of eleven years' observations, on the direction 
of the wind. 



-uinu [b;ox 



S2 3! S? 21 3: JJ a 25 ^ rf« o 



CO CO CO CO 



^ 



•sraiBQ 



wCOOcX)Tt<C^CO'MCO»<Ot>*'^ 

«3 ».<.._ 






CO O IN O O O 

5" 



O t^ (N Ol »-M >»+« CO 
^ -^ OJ 00 CO »-< 



•spuiAl 



•spuiAi 



•spuiAV 



•spuiAl 
:|89^ q^nog 



•spniAV 
qinog 



•spniAl 






aa 

a 
o 



0^ CO c< 
O 



»-4^Q0C0CO'^C0'^OIiO 



Q 



O^TtCOOiO(NCO 
f-H iC 00 <-« »-< 



cD2Ji00^C0<NC0t>*t^fM'^O 
^»o^ ^ -^CO^C^t^-^ — 






« O Tt< if5 00 



SoCl©i«COk«»OOi;O^OIINr^ 
>»C0 01 »-< 00 -^ « 01 

Q 



P;>^ rf CO t^ Tt< '"t 0« 



o ^ ;o 






*j s:^ 






•r* >-» a> ►T CU** o 5* «* ?3 ** Si 



t 



16 . TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Nortb-wea- North-wcsters, accompanied by rain, ge- 
nerally make their appearance about the 
end of February, and are always succeeded 
by two or three days of south-easterly winds. 

onhHuu^icr ^^^ temperature is moderated by the 
evaporation from the surface of the large 
rivers and extensive morasses, with which 
the district abounds? and is some degrees 
lower than that of the western part of Ben- 
gal. The monthly mean maxima of nine 
months deduced from ten year^ observations, 
are as follows : 



April, May. June. July, Augt, Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. 
85.38 87.39 86.16 86.18 85.46 88.34 83.75 76.79 72.25 

Daily mean The daily mean range as calculated from 
Thermometer, hourly obscrvations on the 15th of July for 
five successive years, is 3.44 ; and that of 
January, as calculated on the same date for 
four years, is 15.43. The following is an 
abstract of the annual mean temperature, at 
five different periods in the day, deduced 
from observations for the same number of 
years. 

Years, Sun rise. 10 A, M, Noon. 3 P. M. Evening. 

1832 70.9 75.7 78.4 79.2 78.2 

1833 70.1 76.2 80.2 81.6 80.1 

1834 70.2 77.4 80.6 81.2 79.1 

1835 70. 76.3 79.1 80.8 78.8 

1836 69.7 76.2 78.6 82.1 79.7 

tbeVT Sep! ^^^ ^^^^ disagreeable weather during the 
• o^o^r ""* y^^^ ^^ experienced in the months of Septem- 
ber and October At this season, the wind is 



'\ 



^ 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 17 

generally light and variable, and the atmos- 
phere becomes loaded with moisture and exha- 
lations. Sickness prevails, and generally in- sickneM 

-1 /. . . . dariufthe hot 

creases as the range of temperature is aug- weaiuer. 
mented. During the coli&eason, the nights 
are generally damp and unpleasant, but at Niffhujfene- 
times the sky is clear and dry, on which ^'^tZ'Z: 
occasions ice is formed on water exposed to *^"* 
the air in shallow earthen vessels. Evapo- 
ration proceeds with great activity, in March, 
jApril, May, and June, and is greatly assisted 
by the strong winds, that prevail at this season 
of the year. The mean maximum difference 
between the dry and wet bulb thermometers, 
as observed in the course of several years, 
is 21. Humidity of the atmosphere is the 
principal feature of the climate of the eastern 
districts of Bengal, and is what chiefly Humidity of 
contributes to produce the luxuriance of ve- **>«a*'nMph«»-« 

* — toe cao«e of 

getation, that characterizes this part of the [Jfi ^^^^ ^hfc^ 
country. From the middle of September characterizes 
to February, dews and fogs are of constant 
occurrence, and after the first north-wester 
in the latter month, a week seldom passes 
without a shower. The average fall of rain, 
as deduced from observations from 1827 to 
1834, is as follows : 

M€arch. ApriL May, June. July, Augt, Sept. Oct, Avenk^c 

3.6 inches 7 9.6 12 9 12.5 10.8 6.8 [^" ®^ ™»» ^of 

8 }ears. 

The greatest annual fall, during this time, . 
was 93.9 inches, and the least 46.8. The 
annual mean quantity is about 70.3 inches. 

c 



18 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

^, . From March to the commencement of the 

Thunder 

Storms fre- fains, thundcr storms are of frequent occur- 

quent. 

Hail siorms. Tcnce, and are often very violent. Hail storms 
and whirlwinds also occur at this season 
and the former ^■M)ften productive of gteat 
damage to the crops, more especially to the 
Aoos rice, and safflower. In connection with 
the subject of climate may be mentioned the 

Earthquakes, occasioual occurrcnce of earthquakes. In 
general, the shocks are slight, but at times 
■ they have been productive of great loss of 
life and property. The earthquake in April 
1 762 proved very violent at this place, and 
along the eastern bank of the Megna as far as 
Chittagong. At Dacca the rivers and j heels 
were agitated, and rose high above their 
usual level, leaving, when they receded, their 
banks strewed with dead fish. The shocks 
were accompanied by subterranean hollow 
noises, and were so severe, that a number of 
houses were thrown down, by which 500 per- 
sons, it is said, lost their lives. At Luckipore^ 
in the district of NoacoUy, a portion of coun- 
try, fifteen miles in circumference, is said to 
have been engulphed with all the inhabitants 
and cattle upon it.* In 1775 and 1812 there 
were severe earthquakes. In the latter year, 
violent shocks were experienced on the 10th of 
April, and 1 1th of May, which injured a num- 
ber of houses and several of the public build- 
ings in the city, and at Tezgong.f 

• Vide East Indian Cbronolog;itt» 
t Records of the district. 



t 



TOPOGHAPHY OF DACCA. 19 

CHAPTER II. 

Animaly Vegetable and Mineral Productions. 

^ Tflie animals of this part of the country Tinimaif ;re- 
are, with a few exceptions, of the same kind tTnione fouud 
as those found in most parts of the Gangetic L" ihe*Gairge- 
Delta. The two divisions of the district '^"^'''■' 
however which differ so widely*in their phy- 
sical features, are the habitats of different 
orders and genera, the northern one being 
infested with beasts of prey, and containing a 
great variety of other quadrupeds? while the /^ 
the southern division is comparatively free 
from them, and abounds with aquatic birds, 
and reptiles, and fishes of various kinds. 
Among the Mammalia may be enumerated 
the following species, viz. 

Simia Cercopethicus ; Troops of this monkey pefilrcLV^''"''^ 
are to be seen in the vicinity of the town 
where they commit great havoc in orchards. 
Of the genus Cheiroptera there are four species. 
The Dusoves Murinus of Hardwicke, or com- n.?««p« 
mon house bat which is found in the thatched 
roofs of huts. The PteropuSy Roussette or Picropu«, 
flying fox : the shady branches of the Bhut, 
Pepal^and Tamarind trees are the favorite 
places of resort of this species : in the twilight 
the Roussettes sally forth in quest of food ; 
and like the monkeys they plunder the 
plantain and other fruit trees, in gar- 
dens in the suburbs. The Megaderma : this Megttderma. 
species is distinguished by its wide expanded 



20 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Mcgaderma. auricles which are united upon the top of the 
head, and also by a double cordate leaf like 
membrane over the nasal bones : it is ecau- 
date, of a mouse colour above, and of a 
somewhat lighter hue beneath : its mamin4^ ^J=r- 
instead of being situated in the axillce beyond 
the margin of the great pectoral muscles, as is 
the case in the majority of bats, are placed 
more stemadf and as among the Rhinolphi^ 
this species has in addition to these organs 
two teats above the pubes. The M egadermes 
inhabit the deserted mosques and dried up 
wells in the jungle, in the vicinity of the city. 
vejiperiuio The VespertiUo pictus, or striped bat of Pen- 

^'*^'"*' nant. This beautiful little bat is found in 

the interior of the jungle, and from its gaudy 
! colours and small size, is at first^when seen 
fluttering about the trees, not unfrequently 
mistaken for a butterfly. It is known here by 
the name of the " orange bat," from the rich 
golden colour of its fur : the wings are black 
with yellow stripes, radiating from the car- 
pus, as from a centre, along the sides of the 
phalanges, and shading ofi* into light coloured 
spots which are scattered over the surface of 
sorex indi- the Connecting membrane. The musk rat, or 
viverra shrcw Sovcx IfidtcuSy the Munguse, Viverra 

MuDg:oi. MuJiffoSy and the civet, Viverra JBen/s^alensis. 

gaieiiBia. are all very common • 

Thejungies The juuglcs of the northern division are 

erii division iufcstcd with Tlgcrs and Leopards. On 

bJ^uofprey! *^® occasiou of drought, and during the 

season of inundation, these animals fre*- 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 21 

quently repair to the vicinity of cultiva- Their de«- 

"■■•'*' •' traction an ob- 

ted places, where they commit great de- j^c* ^>th Go- 
predation on the cattle of the ryotts. Their 
destruction has always been an object of 
reward by the Government of the country. 
During the Moghul ' administration a jagheer 
was assigned to Bagh- Moras, or hunters of 
tigers ; but in consequence of the oppression 
committed by these persons, this grant was 
resumed about the year 1771, and Zemindars 
were called on to provide persons for this Namber de». 

11,, troyed daring 

purpose. In the year 1 804 two hundred and ©oe year. 

seventy tiger skins were brought into the 

city for the Government reward. On the Decrease 

•^ on reduction of 

reduction of 5 rupees in the established «*>e Govern- 

1 1 /» ment reward. 

allowance, the average annual number fell 
to 35, and during the last thirteen years the 
total number paid for at the Collector's 
Office has not exceeded one hundred and 
twelve. Tigers are generally killed with the ^° '''** 

^ o .^ manner gene- 

poisoned arrow by the Shikarees of this part ^»"J ^»**«*- 
of the country, and in the manner described 
by Williamson in his " Field Sports of India." 
Wild Hogs are no less numerous than tigers wiid Hog*, 
and leopards, and are perhaps more destruc- 
tive to the crops, than any other animal in the 
country. The forests of the northern tract Elephants 
of jungle, especially those of the pergunnah 
of Attyah, are inhabited by Elephants. These 
animals occasionally appear in the vicinity 
of villages, where they do a great deal of 
injury to trees and cultivated fields. The 
Elephant is an aboriginal inhabitant of this Aboriginal. 
part of the country, but domesticated ones 



22 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

have at different times escaped into the 
jungle, and have helped to increase the num- 
ber. During the administration of Cossim 
Hijrhiydcs. Ali, a great many belonging to Government 
got loose, and almost depopulated the per- 
gunnahs of Bhowal and Cossimpore. In 1791 
a Kheddah was erected on the latter Estate at 
the expense of Government, and 21 of these 
Number auimals were caught. About 80 Elephants are 
rrSl^ro"^ caught annually at Chittagong on account of 
of^^Govern- Qovemment, and are brought up to the Depot 

at this Station. The average number in the lat- 
ter establishment usually amounts to 200. Fe- 
Femaiesfre. Hialc Elephants with young, are frequently 
queotijcaaghc ^^ught, and I may mention that some years 
ago I had an opportunity of examining the 
gravid uterus of one that died here. The 
uterus of this animal is double, each cavity 
having a cornuy into which the fallopian 
tubes open. The ovum was found of an oblong 
Gravid uterus figurc divided into two portions by the pla- 
phanll* ^'*' centa, which encircled it like a zone or belt. 
This latter organ, and the chorion and other 
membranes possess peculiarities of structure, 
which it would take up too much space to 
describe here. The foetus was found with the 
head presenting, with the trunk reflected back* 
wards. The parts peculiar to foetal life were 
well developed, particularly the foramen ovale 
between the auricles cf the heart, and the 
thymus gland. The latter was of a triangular 
shape, and occupied the whole of the ante- 
rior mediastinum : it consisted of numerous 
cells filled with a white fluid. The uterus 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 23 

and placenta weighed 1 36 pounds, the foetus Weiirht or 
212 pounds. Total weight of the gravid meros. 
uterus 348 pounds. 

There are four kinds of Deer found in oeer, four 
the northern jungle, yiz. the Gous Deer 
Cervus Hippelaphus ; the Sumbu, Cervus 
AristoteliSy or black. Russa of Bengal ; the 
spotted Deer, Cervus Axis^ and the Hoogla 
or Muntjack, Cervus Muntjack. The latter The Muot 
species^which is somewhat rare in Bengal^ is 
known among sportsmen here, by the name 
of barking deer, from the resemblance of its 
voice to the barking of a dog. It is distin- 
guished by projecting canine teeth in the 
upper jaw and by high pedunculated processes 
upon which its horns are placed. These pro- 
cesses run almost in a line with the facial 
plane, foi^ming two superciliary ridges, which 
meet near the junction of the frontal and 
nasal, bones, '^he horns are seldom more 
than three inches in length. Between the 
ridges on the forehead there are two duplica- 
turesof theskin, in which an unctuous matter 
possessing the odour of musk is secreted, and 
it is perhaps from this secretion that the 
Muntjack of Nepaul has been called the Musk 
Deer. The Muntjack feeds on the fruit of the it. food. 
Phyllanthus Emblica, and on mangoes and 
guavas which fall to the ground, and also it is 
said, on the tender roots and bark of young 
trees, which it tears up with its tusks. Deer Deer very 
are very injurious to the crops of mustard and ^**''""^'*' 
sesamum in the northern division. They are 
killed in Bhowal by the ryotts who train 



24 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

dogs to hunt them, and by Zemindars who use 
snares of nets for this purpose. A somewhat 
Singular singular mode of hunting Deer is occasionally 
iug Deer. rcsortcd to hcrc. It is called " Dalla Shika- 
ree," from a round frame work made of bam- 
boos and mats, and resembling a flat basket, 
being used on the occasion. This basket, 
which is about four feet in diameter, is made 
very light, and is plastered over with clay, and 
has in its centre a place for a torch. The 
hi^nter places it upon his head, whiph it is 
^ made to fit in the manner of a broad brimmed 
hat; and thus equipped with the torch lit above, 
he proceeds at night into the jungle ringing 
a small bell which he carries in his hand. 
He is followed in the shade cast by the bas- 
ket by two or three persons armed with dif- 
ferent weapons. The Deer attracted by the 
sound of the bell and glare of the light^approach 
close to the party, and are so fascinated, it is 
-- / said, that they become fixed^as it were^to the 
spot, and fall an easy - prey to the hunters. 
Persons proceeding on an expedition of this 
kind have in the first place recourse to mun- 
tras and certain ceremonies to protect them 
The Wild from tiffers. The Wild Buffalo is found in 

Buffalo. ^ . , . -^ 

herds in the vicinity of the marshes of both 

The Jackal divisious of the district, and the Jackal and 

Fox abound in the jungle in the vicinity of 

The Hare, the city. The Fox and Hare, it is reported, 

are not found in the country to the east of the 

Megna. The latter animal, the black Rabbit, 

Balbft i^d*^^ {Leptis Hispidus of Pearson), the Bandicoot 

Porcupine. Rat, aud the Porcupine, are all very com- 

Rabbu. ^^"^^ mon here. The black Rabbit, which very 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 25 

closely resembles the Lepus Sinensis of Hard- 
wicke, is peculiar to this part of the country. 
It is abundant in the jungles to the north of 
the town, and is frequently killed by Euro- 
pean and Native sportsmen. The Natives eat 
the common Hare, but reject black Rabbit as 
impure. Bandicoot Rats are very destructive „ bandicoot 
to the rice crops. They burrow in the fields, *"** r^''^ ***^*- 
and form chambers with several diverging 
passages leading from them, in which they 
deposit considerable quantities of grain. The 
poorer inhabitants in villages search for 
these stores, and their labour is frequent- 
ly rewarded by finding from one to two 
maunds of paddy in one of these places. . 
The Porcupine, Histrix Cristata^ takes up its ,'^^^ ^''^^'^' 
abode in the gardens and elevated spots of 
ground in the vicinity of villages. Like the 
j^ Bandicoot Rat^ the Porcupine burrows under 
ground to a considerable distance, and des- 
troys the ryotts' crops of sugar cane, gourds 
and kuchoo plant, and also the roots of the 
bamboo plant. It is smoked out of its retreat 
by burning straw at the mouths of several of 
the passages communicating with the cham- 
ber. The lower castes of Hindoos eat the 
flesh of the Porcupine : the quills are applied 
to various purposes, viz. for combs, and to 
pierce the ears for ornaments. The Bear, jhe B«ir. 
Ursus Niger^ frequents the more elevated 
parts of the northern division which are not 
inundated, and particularly the small hills in 
this tract. Of the Otter, Lutra Vulgaris, two The otter. 

D 



26 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

otterB. varieties are found in our rivers. Tliey differ 
chiefly in colour one being light or grey, the 
other of a dark brown. Otters are found in 
all the rivers of the district, and are very nu- 
merous in the lake at Fureedpore, and also 
in the rivers of the Mymunsing and Sylhet 
districts. They burrow in the banks of the 
rivers, and frequently have their dens at the 
distance of many yards from the water, and 
in one of these retreats 12 or 15 are often 
found congregated. A great many are killed 
every year, for the sake of their skins, which 
are .exported to Bootan and China. A tame 
How captured. Qttcr is employed to entice them from their 
retreats, and as they come out they are speared 
by the Gurwarus. The light coloured variety 
is trained by the fishermen to drive the fish 
into their nets. The rivers swarm with For- 

The Por- poiscSy Platauista Gangetica, ^^i\d during the 
cold season a considerable number of these 
animals are killed by the Gurwarus, who make 
this and the spearing of Otters their principal 
occupation. They eat the flesh, and burn the 
oil or sell it to the native medical practitioners, 
who use it as a remedy in rheumatism. 

Birds. The class of birds presents a great many 

genera and species, M'hich are common in this 
district. Vultures^ Crows, Kites and fishing 
Eagles are numerous, as they are in all other 
parts of Bengal. The Slrix Candidus and 
Strioc Noctua Indica are the most common 
species of the owl, and here as in almost all 



poise. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 27 

parts of the world they are regarded with 
dread by the natives, who anticipate the worst 
of evils from their appearance in the vicinity 
of their dwellings. Of the Passerine or Inses- 
serial order ^ and of tlie same group to which 
the swallow belongs, the King-fisher, or The King. 
Alcedo, is perhaps the most numerous. There 
are two varieties of this species that are com- 
mon, viz. the blue and the red, both of which 
are in great requisition for the sake of their 
skins. During the cold season the Mughs 
visit this place, and the districts of Mymun- 
sing and Backergunge, where they are em- 
ployed for several months in catching these 
birds. They use for the purpose a small cage, 
in which a tame King-fisher is kept to decoy 
these birds into the snare prepared for them. 
The skins which are dried in the sun, and 
prepared with different astringents are sent 
in large .quantities to China via Ava, where 

[^ they are used^it is said, for Court dresses. 

\ Nearly allied to the Alcedo is the Bee-eater, r^y^^ g^^. 
Merops ViridiSy which is found in considerable ****'• 
numbers in the district. Like its congener, it 
inhabits the crevices in the banks of the 
rivers. Of the Notclied-hill tribe there are two ^y^^ N^^^h- 
species, viz. the Motacilla Picata and the SyU «^*'"* '"*"*• 
via Sutoria, or tailor bird, which is so remark- 
able for the ingenuity displayed in the con- 
struction of its nest. To the order Tenuiros- 
tres belong the families of the Certhiados or 
Creepers, and Cinnyridce or Sun-birds, which 
are deserving of notice on account of their 
great beauty. The Certhia purpurata, and 



\ 



28 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Certhia ohscura are the most common species. 
The latter is called Doorga Toontonee by the 
Hindoos, from its being offered in sacrifice by 
them at the Doorga Poojah. The Cinnyridce, 
The Honey, sugar or honcysuckers, as the name given to. 

sucker 

them by the Natives implies, consist of two- 
species, and like the Trochilidce or Humming 
birds of South America, are remarkable for 
the brilliant metallic lustre of their plumage. 
They are to be seen fluttering about flowers,, 
the nectarious juices of which they extract 
while on the wing. The natives keep these 

The Weaver bcautiful little birds in cages, and feed with 
flour and honey. Belonging to the ConiroS" 
tresy or tribe with a conical beak, the Ploceus 
or weaver bird is one of the most common. 
It derives its name from the pensile nest^ 
which it constructs, and which is generally 
found attached to the Tall tree, or to the reeds 
on the borders of marshes or along the banks 
of creeks. It is generally knqwn in this part 
of the country by the name of Bhoee, and is 
one of the birds most destructive to the rice 

The Wood- crops. The Woodpeckers comprize the fol- 
pecker. lowing spccies, viz. the Picus Viridis, P. Ti- 

gay P. AmantiuSy P. Maceiy P. Bengalensisy 
and P. Jtiffus. The other species of the Coni^ 
rostral tribe are the Cuculus Laihamiy Cuculus 
Orientalisy Coracias BengalerisiSy Corvus Corax 
and the Dial, or Gracula Religiosa. Two va- 

Tbe Parrot, ricties of the green Parrot are found here : 
those that are taught by the Hindoos to re- 
peat the names of their gods are brought from 
Sylhet and Tiperah. Belonging to the Gral- 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 29 

lalores, or Waders, there is a varied assem- ^^ wadere. 
Wage of species in the numerous marshes of 
both divisions of the district. The Spoonbill 
Plaiatcea, the Siris A idea Antigone^ the Ma- 
nickjhor Ciconia Leucocephelioy and the Cico^ 
nta Mycleria Australis^ make their appear- 
ance in the district about the middle of Oc- 
tober, and return to the hills at the commence- 
ment of the rains. There are five species of 
the Heron, viz. the Indian white Heron, Ardea The Heron. 
OrientaliSy the pure white or Ardea Modesta 
of Gray, the black billed or Ardea Negrioros- 
irisy and the yellow necked or Ardea Flavian 
coUis. They build their nests in trees. One 
kind called " Wak" is said by the natives to 
be nocturnal in its habits. The Adjutant, Ci- The Adjutant 
conia Argala, is common in the district, al- 
though seldom seen in the town or its vicini- 
ty. That elegant and graceful bird the Chi- 
nese Jacana, Parra Sinensis^ is an inhabitant The Jacaoa* 
of the marshes. Its habitat is the surface of 
the Lotus leaf, along which it may be seen 
gliding in search of the insects, which are 
generated in myriads there. The Jacana 
forms its nest with the stalks of the growing 
rice plant, which it bends doivnwards and in- 
tertwines upon the surface of the Lotus plant. 
The purple Gallinule, Porphyria Sultana^ is The Gaiiinuie, 
another bird that is met with in the marshes ; 
and particularly in the vicinity of rice fields, 
where this species are very numerous and 
commit great havoc on this grain. It makes 
its nest by excavating the ground under a 
bank of earth among grass jungle, and it is 



30 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

The Gain, usserted by the natives, that when a Kalim 
(as this bird is called) is killed or wounded 
the body is conveyed by its comrades into 
one of these retreats. The eggs of the Kalim 
are often set to fowls. There is a variety of 
A Tariety tliis GalHuule Called the Khora, which is dis- 
trained to fight tinguished by the membrane of the forehead 
y I le oat ve». j^^jj^g ^^ ^ ^^^ colour, and the beak yellow. 

It is trained by the Mussulmans to fight and 
a good game Korah frequently sells as high 
as 15 or 20 rupees. The voice of this bird 
before engaging in combat is peculiar : the 
throat swells out, and emits a deep hollow 
sound, which is continued for several seconds 
and is suddenly followed by a shrill vibra- 
tory cry, like that of the trumpeter bird of 
America. I have not had an opportunity of 
dissecting the larynx of a Korah, but I have 
no doubt it possesses a structure similar to 
that of the latter bird. The crested Coot, 
Fulica Crestatay the spurwinged Plover, Chara- 
drus VentraliSy and the Snipe, Scolopax Gallin- 

Gaiiiuaceoua S^^ ^^® commou. Amoug the Gallincuceous 
^^^^"^ birds we have the Florican Otis Honthoura, 

Peacocks in abundance, the Chacore or Par- 
tridge, the Quail, Colurnix, of which there are 
three species, and also the Jungle Pigeon. 
Belonging to the Palmipedes^ the Ryncops 
JSigra^ or scissor bill, is one of the most com- 
mon species, and is to be seen in all our large 
rivers skimming with its sharp edged bill the 
surface of the water in search of the smaller 
kinds of fish, which constitute its food. The 
ficissor bill, like the Tern, lays its eggs on 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



31 



the sandy churs. The Pelican, Pelicanus The Pciican. 
Onocratulusy is an inhabitant of all our 
marshes, and is frequently employed as a decoy 
in catching different kinds of fish as the Coee 
and Colisa, which are attracted towards it, by 
the rank oily secretion with which the skin 
abounds. Pelicans are caught by the ryotts 
for this purpose at the commencement of the 
rains, and are liberated in the cold season. 
They are generally tied to boats while they are 
used as decoys, but occasionally the ryotts 
have recourse to the cruel operation of sewing 
their eyelids together, during the fishing 
season. The marshes are frequented by 
another species of Pelican, which migrates 
with the Siris and other Cranes. It is of a 
pure white colour with the iris and the fea- 
thers upon the breast and under the wings of 
a pink colour, and wants the oily secretion of 
the skin which the common variety possesses. 
Like the variety of Spoonbill which possesses 
these different characters it may also be dis- 
tinguished by the name of ''Roseate.'' The 
Darter, Plotus Valentii^ is one of the web- 
footed birds, that is most frequently seen 
about rivers. They perch upon branches of 
trees overhanging the water, and on the bam- 
boo stages erected by fishermen, where they 
watch their prey in the stream beneath. The 
most common species of the family Analidce 
are the Anas Indica^ or barred-headed Duck 
of Latham, the Anas Clypeata, or shoveller, 
the Anas Crecca, or common Teal, the Anas 
PoecilorJ^nchaj or spotted-billed Duck, and 



The Darter. 



32 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA- 

the Anas Girra or Girra Teal. The latter 
species which is known among the natives by 
the name of Buliya Haus, is said to build its 
nests in old muts, and ruined buildings. 
The Anser Indicus is found in great numbers 
in the district. 

Reptiles. The class of Reptiles presents fewer varie- 
ties than that of birds. Among the Turtles or 
Cheliyfiian Order ^ the Emys Hamiltonii is one of 
the most common species ; its shell is oblong, 
solid and of a dark colour ; limbs covered 
with yellow spots. Of the genus Trionix 
there are four species, and of these the T* 
Gangelicus is the most plentiful. The mar- 

The Turtle, gi^ of the shicld iu this turtle is cartilaginous 
and flexible, feet palmated, colour dark, head 
olevaceous. It is a very voracious animal, and 
feeds upon the bodies that are thrown into 
the river. The other species are the Trionix 
Suhplanus or flat soft turtle, T. Punctattis or 
soft turtle, with white spots upon its head, 
and the 7\ Indicus^ which is of a green colour, 
interspersed with streaks of white. Turtles 
are brought to the markets by fishermen and 
a set of persons who spear them, but only the 
lower castes of Hindoos eat them. Among 

sanrianRcp. the Saurian Reptiles, Alligators are nume- 
*^' rous in all the rivers of the district, and espe- 

cially the Garial, which is often found of a 
very large size. The Sanda, Slellio Gecko, 
the Girgit, Lophyrus Agamoides, the Bhama- 
nee Samp, Lacerta Scincus, the common Mo- 
nitor, and the varied Monitor, or Monitor 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 33 

Pulcker^ are found in the district, and most 
of them in the northern jungle. The Sanda The s«nda. 
or Gecko is a nocturnal reptile of a dull heavy- 
aspect with large eyes ; the body is spotted 
with round tubercles of a reddish colour in- 
terspersed with white : the under surface 
of the toes is provided with transverse folds 
of skin, which enable the animal (by forming 
a vacuum) to adhere to a smooth surface. In 
the throat of this animal there are two small 
sacs, which open into the esophagus ; they 
contain a white fluid like chalk and water, 
which appears to be of a very acrid nature ; 
some of it, which happened to touch my hand, 
while dissecting one of these animals raised a 
small vesicle, which was attended with consi- 
derable inflammation extending up the arm. 



Belonging to the Ophidian order the follow- ophidian or- 
ing genera and species are most frequently 
met with. The Python Tigris is abundant in The Python 
the jungle in the vicinity of the .town : the ^*^""' 
largest I have seen measured 20 feet. The 
peculiar distribution of the abdominal venous 
system of Ophidian reptiles, which has been 
described by Jacobson of Copenhagen, is well 
developed in this species. Here the Vena 
Port* is formed not only by the veins of the 
abdominal viscera, but also by those of the 
external muscles and of the medulla spinalis, 
and the intimate connection, that here subsists 
between the organs of digestion and the 
nervous system, may tend to explain the torpor 
that exists in snakes during the assimilation 



34 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 

TheTyphios of food. The Tvphlos lumbricalis is usually 

luiubricaiis. •^' ... 

found by persons digging alluvial soil, and i& 
at first frequently mistaken for an earth 
worm. It is occasionally found a foot long, 
and as thick as the little finger. Its body is 
cylindrical and covered with imbricate scales ; 
the eyes very small : the tail almost as thick 
as the head, and from this circumstance, it is 
often called the double headed snake. Nei- 
ther the Pyihon Tigris, nor the Typhlos 
otherspeciea lumbricalis are venomous. The other species 
that are most frequently seen are Coluber 
Dhumna (not venomous) ; Coluber Galalhiea ; 
Coluber Moestris ; the Dryinus of Merrem or 
Coluber Nasatus of Russel, a long and slender 
snake distinguished by a small pointed ap- 
pendage at the end of the muzzle ; the 
Dendrophis of Merrem^ Coluber Catenulatus 
of Russel ; the Cophias Viridis of Merrem or 
JSoodoapaur of Russel, found generally about 
the Kuchoo plant, (Arum) vs^hich it resembles 
in colour and is said to be venomous; the Na- 
trix Stollatus of Merrim of Coluber Fasciatus 
of Lin : distinguished by two white lines 
along the back with transverse black spots. 
Two species Two spccics of the gcuus Hydrophis called 
of Hjrdrop 18. j)ajjjn^gug^ ^jy tjj^ natives, viz. the H. Obscurus 

and H. Nigrocinctus are found in the Miegna, 
at the commencement of the south-west mon- 
soon, and are frequently caught by the fisher- 
men in their nets at this season. The Hydrophis 
is the true Water Snake, and is distinguished 
from the dififerent species that inhabit the 
land, by its flat compressed tail, which resem- 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 35 

bles that of an eel. Its scales are minute and specie«of 
of a white and black or greyish colour. The 
single lung of this Snake reaches almost to 
the extremity of the tail : posteriorly it is 
thin and membranous, and instead of floating 
loose in the cavity of the abdomen, as is the 
case in other snakes, it is fixed by slight 
membranous attachments to the vertebral 
column, and appears to serve the purpose of 
an air bladder subservient to the locomotion , 

of the animal. It is generally supposed that 
the Hydrophis will not live out of salt water, 
but this is not the case, for I have kept both 
species for upwards of two months in fresh 
water, and in this situation I seen them 
throw off their slough or cuticle. The 
Hydrophis is said to be very venomous. The 
Coluber Naga, or Cobra di Capello, is TheCoiuber 
comparatively rare. The season, in which 
snakes are most frequently seen, is the com- 
mencement of the rains or inundation. They 
are at this time dislodged from their retreats 
by the water, and are generally killed in great 
numbers by the ryotts, upon the high spots 
of ground on which their houses are erected. 
The number of persons officially reported to 
the Magistrate to have died from the effects of 
snake bites between the years 1 830 and 1837 
amounted to fifty-six. The common Frog and 
Toad and the Hyla or Tree Frog are the only 
species of Batrachians that are found here. Batrachians. 

The rivers of the district abound with fishes f»*w of 

n • 1-1 rr\t -w^ -r^ -rt variout kinds, 

01 various kmds. The Ray, ICaia. Fliiviatilis^ 

and the common Shark, Squalus Car char ias^ The shark. 



36 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

are found in the Megna and Ganges^ and 
frequently, at a considerable distance from 
the sea. In the cold season of 183(j, a Shark, 
ten feet in length, was killed in a marsh about 
20 miles above Dacca, or 120 miles from the 
The Saw. ii^outli of the Mcgua. The Saw-fish, Squalus 
Pristis, is also common in the large rivers in 
the spring months : the largest I have seen, 
was about 5 feet in length. The Shark and 
Ray are more dreaded by the fishermen than 
even the Alligator. The wound inflicted with 
the spine, with which the tail of the Ray 
is armed, is always very severe, and occa- 
sionally proves fatal* Of the genus Tetrodon 
The Genas there are two species, viz. the T. Polka and 
the T. Cutcutia usually brought to the bazars. 
The Tetrodon Tepa^ which is also found here, 
is considered to be poisonous. Among the 
Osseous fisbefl. Qsscous fishcs thcro are belonging to the 
order Apodes, the Genera Marcena, Mojcrogmi^ 
thuSy OphisuniSj and Unihranchapertura. The 
first is seldom seen in the markets £rom the 
prejudice the natives have to them, but the 
Macrognathus, or Baum, as it is called, is com-* 
mon, and is considered to be a highly nutri- 
tious article of diet. The Cuchia Unihran^ 
chaperiura is found in the marshes and slug- 
glish creeks. Its form is cylindrical and 
length usually about two feet, tail compressed, 
head small and narrower than the neck, 
colour dark red, interspersed with yellowish 
lines above and olivaceous below. Cuchias 
are occasionally met with of a whitish or 
^ straw colour, and some years ago I had an 
Cochias. opportunity of seeing alive one of this kind. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 37 

It was of a light straw colour, and was found 
at a depth of several feet below the surface 
of the ground by workmen, while digging a 
well . The exclusion of light is no doubt the 
cause of this whitish hue as in the case of 
the ash coloured Proteus Anguinus found in 
the subterranean lakes of Carniola. The Cu- 
chia is remarkable for certain peculiarities in 
the structure of its respiratory and circulat- The rc»pi. 
ing organs which indicate that it is amphibi- of th^cucbuu* 
ous in the strictest sense of the word.* The 
branchial laminae for aquatic respiration are 
comparatively few, and are attached chiefly to 
the first and second arches. To compensate 
for this deficiency there is on each side of the 
neck a small membranous sac, which opens 
into the mouth ; and which the Cuchia fills 
by rising to the surface of the water. Each 
sac when distended, is about the size of a 
large walnut in a full grown Cuchia, and is 
visible externally, forming a considerable pro- 
tuberance on each side of the head. The 
Cuchia has the power of retaining air in these 
sacs under water for a considerable time. 
The branchial artery, which arises from the 
right ventricle of the heart, and which in 
fishes in general is entirely distributed to the 
fibrils of the branchial or respiratory laminae, 
is in the Cuchia partly distributed to these 
organs and to the respiratory sacs, while two 
large branches without sending ofi* any rami- 
fications reunite and form the aorta thus 

* I have described the peculiarities of atractare in the Cuchia and 
other fiahes, in the ^^GkanirngM of Scienct'^ for Jane 1830. 



38 . TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

The respi. convevinff, as is the case in reptiles, a portion 
of ihc cucbia. Qf blood which is not exposed to oxygena- 
tion. This distribution of the vessels, it may 
be remarked, is distinctly shewn by inject- 
ing them with quicksilver from the bulb 
or root of the branchial artery. The habitat 
of the Cuchia is the muddy channels of slug- 
gish creeks and marshes, where it is often 
found buried to a considerable depth below 
the surface. The Cuchia is a dull, inactive 
animal, and exhibits in all its movements 
a degree of torpor that forms a striking con- 
trast to the vivacity of the eel. The most 
The Tho- commou gcucra of the Thoracic order are the 
racic order. QqHus^ Op/iiocephaluSy Coius^ TrichopoduSy 

Lahrus Bola and Chanda. The Ophiocepha- 
lus Lata, Coins Cobojius and Tricliopodibs Co- 
lisa are very numerous in all the marshes of 
the district. They are remarkable for super- 
numerary organs of respiration of a foliated 
configuration, by means of which they are 
apparently endowed with great tenacity of life, 
and are enabled to live out of water for several 
days. The Coins and the Colisa are the fishes 
Mierationof jj^^t are SO frequently met with on land, and 

fi shea 00 land. ^ -^ 

hence are supposed to fall from the clouds. 
In the months of March and April, when the 
marshes become dry, these fishes migrate in 
large bodies from one pond to another. They 
generally commence their journey on. the 
approach of a storm, and hence it is, that they 
are conveyed by the wind, and are so fre- 
quently found in fields at a distance from 
water. Their progression on land is effected 



K 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 39 

bv their fixing the sharp-notched edge of the Progrewion 

operculum in the ground, and then pro- »«nd. 

polling the body forward by a sudden jerk 

or contraction of the caudal muscles. In 

these migratory expeditions they proceed in 

a line frequently extending half a mile in 

length : many of them are devoured by birds, 

and probably not one half the number ever 

reach their ultimate destination. The Bola „The Bou 

Paina. 

Pamay or Indian Whiting, abounds in all our 
rivers, and is esteemed a light nutritious 
article of diet. It frequently attains a large 
size, and large quantities are caught in the 
rains and sold in the bazars. This fish has 
a number of large cells of various shapes 
upon the upper part of its head, the use of 
which is not apparent. They communicate 
with each other, and contain a small quantity 
of clear watery fluid, but they do not appear 
to be analogous to the cells found in the same 
situation in the Torpedo and other electrical 
fishes. The Abdominal Order is by far the ^l^^o^^^v"!' 
most extensive one, and includes in its genera 
and species the greatest variety of fishes 
in this part of the country. The Mungree, ^^^ ^""^ 
Macronopterus Magur^ is one of the most 
common species. It is remarkable for its 
supernumerary organs of respiration or arbor- 
escent branchioB, like those of the Silurus 
Ang|illaris of the Nile, The genus Silurtis ^^^^^ 8^*"~ 
comprizes a great many species. The Silu- 
rus Singio is allied in its appearance and 
habits to the M. Magur, and like it the 
S. Singio has arborescent branchial organs 



gree. 



40 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Regpirafory for respiratioii, and also a canal on each side 
of the vertebral column which is subservient 
to the same purpose. The Mungree and 
Singee inhabit the jheels in company with 
Coee and Colisa, and generally join them^ 

TheBoaiiee. though uot in great numbcrs iu thei r expedi- 
tions on land. The Boallee is a common 
fish throughout Bengal, and is particularly 
plentiful here. It often attains a large size 
and is considered one of the most voracious 
inhabitants of the rivers : its jaws are wide, 
eliptical arches resembling those of the Shark^ 
and are closely beset on their inner surface 
with sharp recurved teeth. It is one of the 
few fishes that possess a pancreas. The- 
other most common species are the S. Pabda^ 
S. Garua. Belonging to the genus Pimelodus 

other spc- are the P. Aor, P. Pangas, P. Tengra^ P. 
Batassitty P. Rita^ P. Bagbaria, P. Gagore^ 
and P. Silondia. The latter is found in the 
large rivers and in deep water. The Eaox 
Cancilla is abundant in the months of Septem- 
ber and October. Its jaws which are armed 
with very sharp teeth are used to puncture 
the skin, by the persons who practise cup* 

The Mullet, pi^g. The Audwarco or muUct, Mugil Cor- 
sula, is found in shoals along the shallow 
margins of the rivers and churs : the bazars 
are supplied with them in the cold season by a 

Mango Fish, sct of Mussulmauu fishcrmcn. The |Ian- 
go fish, Polynemtts Risua^ is plentiful in the 
months of April and May, but it is considered 
inferior both in size and flavor to the Mango 
fish of Calcutta. The seven long pectoral 



cies 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA* 41 

rays of this fish are endowed with great 
sensibility, and like the filaments of the Letts 
Ciliaris they appear to be organs of prehen- 
sion, by which the fish coils round the stems 
of plants or sea weeds, to sustain itself whilst 
in search of prey.* These filaments are sup* 
plied with large nerves from the medulla 
spinalis, with a branch from the 5th pair, 
which winds round the base of the opei'culum, 
forming on each side a plexus, which sends 
oflF a branch to each ray. The Indian Her- „'^« ^^^'^ 
ring, Clupea Phasa^ is found in the estuaries of 
the Ganges and Megna, and is common in the 
markets after the rains. Its congener the 
Hilsa, Clupanadon Ilishay is plentiful, and in ^he Hiiaa. 
point of size and flavour is probably superior 
to the Hilsa of any other part of the country. 
It is found in all the rivers, but is most plen- 
tiful in the Ganges, where it is caught in 
large quantities during the rains, at which 
season large shoals of this fish ascend the 
streams to spawn. Large quantities are salted 
and preserved with tamarinds, and exported 
to different parts of the country. The ilf^s- 
Uis Chilala and Mystus Ramcarati are found 
in tanks and rivers, and are common in the 
bazars. Of all the genera of the abdominal 
order that of Cyprinus is the most plentiful, "^^^ Cyprmk 
and forms together with the Coins Cobjojeusj 
Tuchopodus Colisa^ Silurus Singio and M. 
Magur, the principal part of the animal food of 
the natives. The chief species are the Cypri^ 

• Sir Chftrles BcU's Treatise on the Hand. 

F 



42 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

nus RokitOy C. Cutla, C. Culbasia and C. Pu* 
titoria. They are the largest species of the 
genuSy and not unfrequently attain a size of 
eight feet in length. The opercula or gill 
covers of many of them are made into comhs, 
which are sold in the bazars. The different 
Cyprini constituting the sub-genus '* Puniitis 
Cyprinus^ of Hamilton, consist of a great 

rief liTlJxts ^^^^^*^y ^f species, which are generally known 
in this part of the country by the name of 
Poothee. They are very plentiful in the cold 
season, and are the cheapest of the differ- 
ent kinds of fish sold in the bazars. They 

from^him^*^^ yield a considerable quantity of oil which 
is extracted by boiling, a process that is car- 
ried on to a considerable extent by the fisher- 
men in this district, and the neighbouring 
ones of Mymensing, and Sylhet. In the coun- 
try this oil is used by the poorer Mussulman 
inhabitants for burning, and is sold at a rate 
varying for 8 to 15 seers for the rupee : a 
considerable quantity also is exported annu- 
ally to Calcutta. The different genera of the 
abdominal order, with the exception of the 
Esox, Polynemus and Mugil^ present a re- 
Pecoiiariiies markable connection between the organ of 

of structure ; ^ 

orpinsofhcar. hearing and the air bladder. In the genera 
Cyprinus, SiluruSj Pimelodus, Macropteronotus 
and Cohiiis this connection is maintained by 
means of a set of ossicula, analogous to the 
tympanic bones of Mammalia. The air blad- 
der varies in shape and size in the different 
species of these genera, and in some is so 
small, that it cannot possibly be subservient 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 43 

to locomotion as in the Pimelodus Bagharia, Pecaiiarities 

m which m a nsh weighing ten pounds, I 

found two air bladders, each of the size of a 

large pea. In the JBola Pamuy Mystus Che-' 

tala and Chtpanadon Ilisha, the connection is 

maintained by an elongation or tube of the 

air bladder, which runs to the vicinity of the 

organ of hearing, and is separated from it by 

only a thin membranous septum. Besides 

these peculiarities of structure the M. Corsula 

and C. llisha present anomalies in the confi^ 

guration of their digestive organs, which may 

briefly be uoticed here. The stomach is of Dige«tive 

a globular shape with thick muscular walls, *^'^^°"* 

which evidently perform the function of the 

gizzard in birds. Sand is always found in 

the stomachs of these fishes, and it is probable, 

that this substance assists in the trituration of 

the food, in the same way as pebbles act in 

the gizzards of fowls. The stomach has a 

cuticular lining, and is abundantly supplied 

with mucus : the coecal appendages round 

the pylorus are very numerous, and in the 

C llisha there are two sacs behind the 

branchial arches, which pour mucus into 

the esophagus. The mouth of this latter 

fish also has a singular structure to pro* 

tect its gills from the mud it swallows. 

The inside of this cavity is lined with fine 

cartilaginous lamince resembling the barbs 

of a feather, which act as a strainer, and 

thus protect the delicate structure of the 

respiratory organs, from the irritation of 

sand. 



44 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA* 



ri^d'T* ?hc ^^^ right of fishing belongs to the Zemin- 
Zemindar. j^fs of the conti^Hious laxicis I the amount 

from their n»h- ^ ^ 



eries. 



Different 
nets used. ' 



of revenue they derive from their fisheries 
varies according to the season of the year. 
From October to May fishermen pay monthly 
from 1 to 5 rupees per boat, or more frequently 
according to the extent of their boundaries, 
while in the rains the rate is considerably 
reduced, and usually varies from 4 annas to 
1 rupee per boat. When the water retires 
from the inundated lands, marshes are let 
out for the season at a rate varying from 5 
to 500 rupees, and the more extensive ones 
are generally rented by joint stock compa- 
nies of fishermen, or of the class of persons, 
who supply the bazars. There are 18 differ- 
rent kinds of nets used in this district, all 
varying in size from 4 to 250 cubits in length, 
and from 2 to 24 cubits in breadth, and dis- 
tinguished by difi^rent names, as the Goon- 
tee net for Mangoe Fish, the Konah for 
Hilsa, the Chitah for Bola, &c. The other 
methods of fishing adopted here are the 
pulow or basket, the koonch or spear, and 
screens made of reeds, which prevent ihe 
escape of the fish on the ebbing of the tide. 
Fish ex. Large quantities of fish are dried, and export- 

ported in g^reat . 

quantities. cd anuually to different parts of the country. 
Two species of Crustacea, or shell fish, are 
found here, and are brought in large quanti- 
ties to the bazars. The only other inhabi- 
tant of the rivers, that is worthy of notice 
here, is a bivalve shell, a species of Mya^ in 
which pearls are found, and which is an object 



Shell Fish. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 45 

of search during the cold season. The peo- Peari w- 

valve* 

pie who dive for them are a Mussulman 
caste called Budiyas, and there are altoge- 
ther from 80 to 100 boats usually employed 
in the business. The pearls are small, and of 
little value : the shells, which are iised by the 
natives in the place of spoons, are disposed of 
in the bazars. 

Of animals belonging to the surrounding AiiimaUfrofn 
districts, the Gayal and Pangolin are occa- Jj;; rjrj'!:"."'*" 
sionally brought here from the Tipperah hills ; 
the Mole, Lemur, and Malacca Porcupine 
from Sylhet, and the Oolook, Gibbon or long The ooiook. 
armed ape from the Garrow liills, besides a 
a variety of birds as the Argos Pheasant, 
Hoppoe, Buceros, &c. The Mole, of which, The iwoie 
I sent a specimen to the Asiatic Society a 
few months ago, is the Tatpa Europaa^ or 
common Mole of Europe. The natives of 
this part of the country believe, that the 
Orang Outang is to be found on the Garrow ^^^^ 
hills. This animal, which they call " Bun- Outang. 
manus,'' is, they declare, different from the 
Oolook or Gibbon, with which they are evi- 
dently well acquainted. Two young Ourangs 
of Sumatra, which were brought to this place 
about two years ago, were immediately recog- 
nized by them as specimens of the real Bun- bit'ihcGarrow 

U 'II 

manus. The people of the Garrow hills, 
who are in the habit of capturing the Oolook 
or Gibbon, and who are, therefore, not likely 
to confound it with any other animal, also 
assert that the Orang Outang inhabits their 



r 



46 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA, 

forests. The late Mr. Carruthers, while on a 
visit to that part of the country in 1837 made 
particular enquirieiff on the subject, and was 
iweoHoni.d informed, that the Bun-manus or Oiang, has 
been seen there, but that it is very rare, and 
that it is many years, since one of these ani- 
mals has been captured. The Bun-manus, it 
may be mentioned, is described by Abul 
Fazel, as " an animal of the Monkey kind. 
His face has a very near resemblance ; he has 
no tail and walks erect. The skin of the 
body is black and slightly covered with hair. 
One of these animals was brought to his Ma- 
jesty from Bengal. His actions were very 
astonishing."* This colour of the skin, (which 
in the Orang is of a bluish hue,) and the slight 
covering of hair (which in the Oolook is thick 
and wooly,) would certainly indicate, that the 
Bun-manus is the real Orang Outang. 

vejretnhiepro- Vegetable Productions. — The elevated kun* 
numeroSn/^*^^ kar tracls of the Northern Division, and the 
extensive marshes in the clayey and allu- 
vial soils throughout the district are co- 
vered with a great diversity of vegetable 
productions. They comprize orders, genera 
and species that are far too numerous to 
be mentioned here, and 1 shall therefore 
only enumerate a few of the more common 
plants, arranged according to the purposes 
to which they are usually applied by the 
natives. 

« Ayeen Akberr;, transUted by Gladwin, vol. ii. page 400. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 47 

Edible Plants. — 1st, growing in marshes Edible Plants. 
and their vicinity. Nymph{Ba Lotus (ord. 
NympheaceaB Salisb.) The Egyptian Lotus, 
or Water Lily. The bulbous root of this plant, The water 

• Lily. 

which is known by the name of Shalook, and 
the seeds and stalks by that of Sampala, are 
sold in the bazars as articles of diet. The 
ryots collect the former, during the season of 
ploughing, and boil them for use. The Sha- 
look also yields a foecula or starch, which is 
used by the native medical practitioners as a 
substitute for Arrow-root. The seeds are 



Water Plau- 



taio. 



parched and sold as Koi. Panee Kela^ or water 
plantain, (Dasmonium Indicum of Roxb. 
Stratiotes Alismoides Linn.) Broad leaved 
Water Soldier, a name given to the genus from 
the supposed resemblance of its ensiform 
spines being arrayed like an armed phalanx 
upon the water. Like the former, it is com- 
mon in the jheels and is collected for its seeds 
which are sold in the markets. Sins^hara 
(Gen. Trapa, ord. Onagrarioe) Water Cat- j^^J**" ^**- 
trops. Two species, viz. T. Bispinosa and 
T. Quadrispinosa, are equally plentiful here, 
and are found growing in the same situation 
with the former plants. The kernels of the 
nuts are sold in large quantities in the bazars. 
Komol Gutta or Rukta Komol (Nelumbium Ko^oi catta. 
speciosum ord. Nympheaceae Juss:) The 
roots of this plant, which are of a considerable 
length and size, and the seeds of the fruit like 
the Sampala, are eaten by all classes of the 
natives. The Hindoos use the flowers at their 
poojahsy and the leaves to wrap up articles of 



48 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA* 

Mukaoa. merchandize. Mukana or Pokol (Anneslia 
spinosa Roxb.) This plant, which is peculiar 
to the eastern parts of Bengal, is found grow- 
ing in the lowest sites, where there is a consi- 
derable depth of water. The fruit is of a 
black colour and covered with sharp spines, 
and contains a number of cells filled with a 
transparent pulp, in which the seeds are im- 
bedded. It is sold in the bazars from May 
to August, on account of its seeds, which are 
Ghetchoo. eatcu by the natives. Ghetchoo (Aponoge- 
ton Monostachion, ord : Naides Juss :) single 
spiked Aponogeton. It is common in the 
low rice land: its tuberous roots, like the 
Shalook, are turned up by the plough, and are 
in common use among the ryotts as an 
article of diet. These plants are abundant in 
c]e» of*food*^*in s^^sous of high and long continued inunda- 
tiiiie* of scar- {xoUy aud iu timcs of scarcity and famine, aris- 

city, from in- ' j » 

uudatiou. ing from this cause, they constitute the prin- 
cipal articles of sustenance, to the ryotts and 
poorer inhabitants of the district. 2, Growing in 
moist and dry situations, leaves and branches 

TheCaim«c- uscd as Vegetables. Culmee-shag (Con vol vu- 

' "^* lus repens). This plant forms a network of 

vegetation upon the surface of j heels : the 

tender stalks and tops of the plant are used as 

Hcioncha. a Vegetable. Heluncha (Jussieu repens ord : 
onagr :) is a native of the marshes, its stalks 
and leaves, which have a bitter taste, constitute 

Pol-sag. a vegetable that is in common use. Pot-sag 
(basella lucida ord : Atriplices Juss :) shining 
Malabar night shade. The tender branches 

Agarch. are eaten. The Agarch (Achyranthis alter t 



1 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 49 

nifolia ord : Amaranth), Looniya (Portulacea 
Oleracea) or garden purslane, and CAowlee ?""*»»«• 
(Portulacea quadrifolia) or creeping annual 
purslane are used as sags or vegetables. Gun- dhSrce^'wJd 
dabedkallee (Oldenlandia alata ord : Saxifrag, *»^^"*"^ 
Juss :) and Moondee (Sphaeranthus mollis ord : 
Cinarocephaloe Juss :) are plentiful, their leaves 
which possess a powerful odour are common 
ingredients in native dishes. 3, Trees growing Frau Trees, 
upon dry and elevated parts of the district ; 
fruit used. Paniyola (Flacourtia Cataphracta The Puniyoia* 
ord: Tiliacoe Juss :) The fruit of this tree, 
which is of a purple colour, and of the size 
and appearance of a plum, is sold in the city 
iluring the rains. The branches which are 
armed with long sharp spines are used by 
persons doing penance at the Churrack poo* 
jah, as an instrument of torture. Moina or 
Munphul ( Vangueria spinosa ord : Rubiaceoe Mnnphd. 
Juss :) the berry or drupe is of the size of a 
cherry, and of a yellow colour. It is consi- 
dered to be a fruit of great delicacy, and is 
common in our bazars in November and De- 
cember. Bier or Kool Zharberi (Ziziphus 
Jujuba ord : Ramnce Juss :) white leaved In- 
dian Jujube. This tree is abundant in the Bier or lo. 
jungles, and large quantities of the firuit are '*" 
brought into the town during the rainy sea- 
son. This fruit is the Indian plum and con- 
sists of an oblong drupe with a rugous nut 
containing two seeds. SafFriam (Psidium py ^^^^^ 
riferum ord : Myrtaceoe Juss :) white Guava, 
is a common tree in the jungle. The Guava 
is the cheapest of all the fruits sold in the 

o 



^ 



50 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 



Amia. bazars. Amlakee or Amla (Phyllanthus Emb- 
lica Linn : Myrobalaniis Emblica Rumph ; 
ord: Euphorbiaceoe Juss:) The fruit of this tree 
is of the size of a Gooseberry, and is sold ia 

Kiheroi. large quantities in the town. Kshemi (Mimu- 
sops Kanki ord : Sapoteoe Juss :) This tree 
yields a refreshing fruit, which is a favo- 

Lotqaa. pito onc amoug the natives. Lutkha (Pie- 
rardia Sapida Roxb-) This tree is peculiar to 
the eastern districts, and is particularly abun- 
dant in this and the adjacent Zillah c^Tippe- 
rah. It is the Lutqua of China. The berry 
which is of the size of a Gooseberry is smooth 
and of a yellow colour and of a pleasant su- 

Kamaraoga. bacid tastc. Kamaratiga (Averrhoa Caram- 
bola Rumph : ord : Oxalidoe DeCandolle,) is 
a common tree in the jungle, and is generally 
seen growing in the same situation with the 
Guava. The unripe fruit is used as a vegeta- 
ble, and is sold in large quantities in the mar- 
kets during the rains. Julpai (Eloeocarpus 
serrata ord : Eloeocarpi Juss :) Indian Olive, 
is found on dry and elevated spots in the 
northern division of the district. The drupe 
is much used as a vegetable, and is a common 

DephuL ingredient in pickles made by natives. De- 
phul (Artocarpus Lakoocha) The unripe fruit 
of this tree abounds with a white adhesive 
juice. When ripe it is peeled and steeped in 
hot water for some time, and the infusion is 
used to boil rice in, the pulp is often made 

Chaiia. into a chitnee. Chalta (Dillenia speciosa 
Thunb.) This stately tree is common in the 
dense jungle of the northern division of the 



Jalpai or la 
didD Olive. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 51 

district. Its fruit which is of the size of a 
large apple is very acid and is occasionally 
used as an ingredient in native cooked dishes. 
ImUe (Tamarindus Indica ord : Legumin ;) is imiee or 
a common tree in the jungles, and is also cul- 
tivated about villages. Large quantities of 
Tamarinds are exported to different parts of 
the country. This tree like all others yield- 
ing fruit much in use, is let out by Zemindars, 
and yields a considerable revenue. Kulhbel Kutbbei w 
or JSrAo6^Au(FeroniaElephantum ord: Auran- pie.** *°* ^" 
teacece corr : de ser :) Elephant Apple. This 
tree is confined to the northern division of the 
district. Its fruit of which Elephants are 
said to be very fond, (and hence its name), is 
prepared by the natives as an article of diet, 
by mixing the pulp with salt, oil and pep- 
per. Three species of the genus ficus, viz. the 
Gular^ F. glomerata, Dhaombur^ F. carica ; 
and Luta^ F. vagans, are sold in the markets 
and are all used as articles of diet. Atnoora Amoon. 
(Amoora Rohituka A. and Wight Andersonia 
CucuUata) a large tree, the fruit and flowers 
of which are used in cooking. Antra (Man- Amraor 
gifera Indica ord : Terebinthaceoe Juss :) This *"^**^' 
is a common tree in the jungle of the northern 
division, its green fruit is used as an ingre- 
dient in native made dishes. The Mango 
tree is chiefly cultivated in the southern divi- 
sion, but its fruit is inferior to the Mango of 
Maldah. Jungli Khajoor (Phoenix farinefera JangiiKha. 
Iloxb. ord: Palmoe.) This species of date tree 
is about three feet in height and is abundant 
in the jungle, its fruit is sold in the bazars. 



F 



52 TOPOGPAPHY OF DACCA. 

Bet. Bel (Calamus Rotang Roxb.) The young 

shoots are cooked as a vegetable, and the pulp 
of the berries is eaten by the natives. The 

BaoHaidee. JufigU or Bufi Huldes (CuFCuma Zedoaria 
ord. Cannoe Juss :) is abundant in the nor- 
thern division, and is often fraudulently sold 
along with the cultivated kind in the bazars. 

jaman and The fruit of the Jamau and the roots of the 

Sutumooilee. 

Sutumoollee (Asparagus racemosus) are pre- 
served in syrup, and large quantities of these 
articles and of Ginger and Limes, similarly 
prepared, are sent to different parts of the 
country. The Cathal and Bel trees are abun^ 
dant in all parts of the district. 

Medicinal Msdicifuil Plants. '^^Juyuntee^Ae^K^yuoiaevLe 
ti^r/propcr- Sesban.) The juice of the leaves is athelmintic, 
***jayaniee. a^d is administered to the extent of two ounces 

SoQiiii. for a dose. Sonali (Cassia Fistula.) The 
pulp mixed with tamarinds, sugar and rose 
water is used as a laxative ; and the rind of 
the pod is used to form a cooling drink in 

Sona. fevers. Sana (Bauhinia purpurea) purple 

mountain ebony. The wood is used as reme- 

Kat Kaieja. dy iu fevcrs. Kat Kaleja (Csesalpinia Bon* 
ducella.) This tree is plentiful in the district. 
The seeds are much used as a tonic, and a 
decoction of the leaves in cases of fever. The 
latter also constitute an ingredient of several 

Apanoita. linimcnts. Apurajita (Clitoria ternata,) so 
named from the seeds having been originally 
brought from Temate, one of the Molucca 
islands. The juice of the leaves mixed with 
that of green ginger, is administered in 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



53 



cases of colliquative sweating in hectic feven 
Rukhta Chandana (Adenanthera pavonia) 
bastard flower fence. This tree is said to 
attain a great age. The seeds and wood are 
used both in the form of a decoction, and of a 
liniment in pulmonary complaints, and par* 
ticularly in cases of haemoptysis or spitting 
of blood from the lungs. The seeds and wood 
are rubbed down with dried turmeric and 
honey, and used as an application to the eyelids 
and eyebrows in chronic ophthalmia. Klia- 
dira (Acacia Catechu.) The wood of this 
tree is used in cases of chronic cutaneous 
disease. It enters into the composition of a 
decoction of Gooluncha, Basoot, Palta Moo- 
tha and ChuUanee woods, and of Oser and 
Nim leaves, in the proportion of half a drachm 
of each of the ingredients to one pound of 
water boiled down to four ounces, the whole 
of which is taken during the day. McLshanee 
(Glycine labialis.) This plant enters into the 
composition of a liniment called Battaree, 
which is much in use in cutaneous complaints 
of long standing. Kala Kalkashanda (Cassia 
purpurea,) an ointment made of the bruised 
seeds and leaves and of sulphur, is used in 
itch and ringworm. Gooluncha (Menisper- 
mum glabrum.) The deposit that takes place 
from a cold infusion of this plant is adminis- 
tered in cases of Leprosy. The branches of 
the tree are used for this purpose ; they are 
cnt into small pieces and pounded, and are 
then put into cold water in the proportion of 
one seer of the wood to five seers (10 ft) of 



Rakhta 
Chaudaua. 



Khadii'f 



Maahanee. 



Kala Kal. 

kashanda. 



Goolaochi 



64 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 



Exhibited 
in Leprosy. 



Chitra. 



Bichittee. 



Basoka, 



Mootha. 



water. The infusion being allowed to remain 
undisturbed for three days, the branches are 
taken out and the water being gently drawn 
off, a fine white powder will be found at the 
bottom of the vessel. It is dried in the sun, 
and is exhibited internally and externally in 
cases of Leprosy. Chitra (Plumbago Zey- 
lanica) Ceylon Lead-wort. This plant is 
used as a fence round huts and gardens. 
The root is used in combination with Bishtal* 
lee in cases of enlarged spleen and as a tonic 
in dyspepsia. The P : Rosea, or rose coloured 
Lead-wort, so named from the scarlet colour 
of its flowers, is also common and is known by 
the name of Chitra. The fresh roots of both 
species are pounded and used to raise a blis- 
ter. Bichittee (Trajia involucrata) Calycine 
Trajia. The root and leaves of this climbing 
plant are used medicinally. The former is 
the basis of an external application in Lepro- 
sy, and the latter dried and reduced to pow- 
der, and mixed with ginger and kyphul, 
form an errhine, which is prescribed in cases 
of head-ache. Basokaj or Arus (Justicia 
Adhotoda) Malabar nut. The juice of the 
leaves of this tree is given in a dose of two 
drachms with one drachm of the juice of fresh 
ginger, as an expectorant in coughs. It also 
enters into the composition of several oils 
that are used in difierent diseases. Mootha 
(Cyperus rotundus.) This plant is a common 
jungle weed. The bulbous roots are scraped 
and pounded with green ginger, it is given 
mixed with honey in cases of dysentery^ the 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



55 



dose is about a scruple. Shyamaluta (Echites sbyamaiuta. 
frutescens,) This plant which derives its 
name from its creeping stems abounds with 
an acrid milky juice. The stalks and leaves 
are used in the form of decoction in fever. 
Bhoii Koomra (Trichosanthes tuberosa.) The BboiiKoom- 
large tuberous root of this plant is dried and '^ 
reduced to powder, which is given in doses of 
10 grains in enlargements of the spleen , liver 
and abdominal viscera. The fresh root is 
mixed with oil and applied to Leprous ulcers. 
Shanci (Achyranthes triandra,) is boiled shand. 
with Nim, Heluncha, &c. to form a medicated 
vapour bath in cases of rheumatism. Bala Baia. 
(Pavonia Odorata) sweet smelling pavonia, 
is generally cultivated in gardens. The leaves 
are boiled with Mootha, Bel, and Dhuneya, or 
Corianders, in the proportion of two drachms 
of each ingredient, in one pound of water, till 
only four ounces of the liquor remain. It is 
astringent and tonic, and is given in dysen- 
tery. Nag'Keshur (Mesua ferrea.) This large Nag keahur. 
tree is found in the Northern division, and is 
occasionally planted in gardens. The flowers 
mixed with oil are administered both external- 
ly and internally in cases of cough. The seeds 
contain an oil which burns well. Poonurnuva 
(Boerhavia procumbens,) is diuretic, and is 
prescribed in cases of dropsy. Nisinda (Vitex 
Nigundo) Indian Chaste tree. It is employed 
both as an external and internal remedy in 
rheumatism. It is given with garlic, subzee, 
parched rice, and gour, in the proportion of 
one part of the leaves, three of garlic, four of 



Poonurna. 



▼a. 



Nisinda. 



56 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



Taruka. 



JiijoL 



siibzee leaves and eight of rice and gour : the 
mass is divided into pills of 20 grains in each, 
of which two are taken at night. Taruka 
^Althoea Alhugas,) a common reed in the 
j heels, which is used to make twine and rope^ 
by people in the country. The juice of the 
root is prescribed as a remedy in Hemorr- 

Harjorah. hoids. Harjorah (Cissus quadrangularis.) 
The stalks pouqded and mixed with ginger or 
mustard are applied to bruises and contusions. 

Baugra. Baugva (Vcrbesina prostrata.) The juice of 
the stems mixed with sugar is given in jaun- 
dice and gonorrhoea. j2r;u2(Odina\yodier.) 
The juice of the green branches in a dose of 
four ounces mixed with two ounces of Tama- 
rinds is given as an emetic in cases of Coma, 
or insensibility produced by Opium or other 
Narcotics. Toolsi (Ocymum villosum) sweet 
basil. The juice of the leaves mixed with 
ginger and black pepper is given during the 
cold stage of intermittent fever : it is also 
prescribed to allay vomiting arising from irri- 

shimooi, or tatiou produccd by worms. Shimool (Bom- 
bax heptaphylla) Silk Cotton, a common 
tree in both divisions of the district. The dry 
flowers with poppy seeds, goat's milk, and 
sugar are boiled and inspissated and of this 
conserve two drachms are given three times 
a day in Hemorrhoids. Champa (Michelia 
Champuka) sweet yellow Michelia. The 
flowers mixed with Sesamum oil forms an ex- 
ternal application which is often prescribed 
in vertigo ; and the juice of the le&ve^ mixed 

Nag pbanee. with houey is givcu in cases of colic* Nag- 



ToaUi. 



Silk Cottou. 



Gbampa. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



57 



Jobo. 



PaliU Mm. 
dar. 



Akand. 



phunee (Cactus Indicus.) The milky juice of 
this plant is given in a dose of ten drops with 
a little sugar, as ii purffative. Sliephalika 6hephaiika,or 
(Nyctanthes arbor tristis.) The sorrowful tree, er. 
or Indian Mourner, so named from the droops 
ing withered look of the flowers during the 
day. The leaves of this tree are boiled with 
sugar and water, and are given as a diapho* 
retic in fever. The white and yellowish 
flowers yield a fragrance like that of Jasmine. 
Juha (Hibiscus Rosa-sinensls.) The flowers 
are infused in cold water, and prescribed in 
cases of Menorrhagia. PaUta Mandar^Evy" 
thrina Indica.) The juice of the green leaves 
taken in a dose of two ounces is said to be a 
good Vermifuge and Cathartic. Akund (As- 
clepias gigantea) curled flowered gigantic 
Swallow Wort of Brown . The white variety 
is the one that is most plentiful in this district. 
The bark of the root is in common use in this 
part of the country in Syphilis and Leprosy. 
Seej (Euphorbia nercifolia) Oleaijlder leaved 
Spurge* The milky juice is given as a purga*- 
tive, and the pulp of the stem, mixed with 
green ginger, is given to persons who have 
been bitten by mad dogs before the acces- 
sion of Hydrophobia. Isharmool (Aristolo- 
chia Indica) Indian Birthwort, is most abun- 
dant in the Northern division. The juice of 
the roots is given in Coughs and Asthma. 
Kadumba (Nauclea Cadumba.) The bruised 
leaves are applied as a discutient to oedema- 
tous swellings, and the bruised flowers mixed 
with ginger form a remedy for fistulous sores 

H 



Setj. 



Iiharmool. 



Kadumba. 



root. 



58 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

s 

Maiara. Matura (Callicarpa Incana,) is the plant of 
which the Seetul-patee Mats are made. An 
infusion of the flowers in the proportion of 
two drachms to two ounces of water is given 
in cases of Menorrhagia : one ounce of the 

Bhika-purnt infusiou is the mcdium dose. Bhika-purni 
(Hydrocotyle Asiatica.) The juice of the 
plant bruised with gingcir is given in dysente- 

i/iquorice ry. Jyostce Madhoor (Glycirrhiza glabra,) 
is found in the Northern division. Liquorice 
root is prescribed to allay thirst in fevers, and 
is used in combination with various other re- 

BukooL medies in Syphilis. Bukool (Mimusops Elen- 
gii.) The seeds are bruised, and made into a 
paste, which is used as a suppository in cases 

jamp.tokari. of obstiuatc coustipatiou. Jamp^tokuri (Sida 
Asiatica.) A decoction of the leaves and 
branches of this plant is used as a fomentation 

Sujna. in phagedenic sores. Sujim (Hyperanthera 
Moringa,) a common tree throughout the 
country. The bark of the fresh root mixed 
with Mustard seed and green ginger is used 
as an external apj^lication in rheumatism. It 
is also administered internally in enlargement 

Kooodooree. of the splceu, and in dyspepsia. Koondooree 
(Bryonia grandis.) The bark of the root 
dried and reduced to powder, is said to act 
as a good cathartic, in a dose of 30 grains. 

Pa(up choor. Patuv Chooi\ (Plcctrauthus aromaticus.) Two 
ounces of the juice of the leaves mixed 
with sugar is given morning and evening in 

Rnkta-kom- cascs of straugury and chordee^ Rukta- 

**"*"• kumbula (Nymphoea rubra.) The flowers and 

stalks of this species of Lotus are reduced to 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



59 



powder, which is administered in cases of 
discharge of blood from the stomach and 
bowels, and the Soondhi, (Nymphoea Cyanea) 
or species with blue flowers, enters into the 
composition of an oil, which is used in diarr- 
hoea. The other principal Medicinal trees 
and plants that are found in the uncultivated 
parts of the district are, Jumulgota, (Croton jamni^ott. 
Tiglium) Koochila, (Strychnos Nux Vomica,) Seem^^'o'^^^^ 
Neem, (Melia Azadiracta,) Dhatura, (Dha- ^rdi"*'^*''" 
tura Metel,) Bhorenda, (Ricinus Communis.) 



Plants used asfoddei* and applied to various 
useful purposes. — Bena (Andropogon Murica- 
tus ord : Gram :) grows in the northern divi- 
sion, in places that are not inundated ; it is 
used by the poorer classes to thatch their 
huts, but it is neither so durable, nor so well 
adapted for this purpose as the following spe- 
cies. Oolloay (Saccharum Cylindricum ord : 
Gram :) Cylindrical spiked sugar cane. It is 
abundant in the northern division, and is the 
grass in most common use as a thatch for 
huts. Kasha or Kagura^ (Saccharum spon- 
taneum ord : Gram :) Wild Sugar Cane, is 
one of the earliest plants upon newly formed 
churs. It is chiefly used for fuel, and when 
young it is given to the cattle. Nullj ( Arundo 
Karkha ord : Gram :) This reed grows on 
churs and in low marshes, and attains a 
height of eight or ten feet. It is used for 
the chuppers or roofs of huts, and for the ma- 
nufacture of moolwa or coarse mats. JBaksha 
(Rotbcellia glabra ord : Gram :) " Hard Grass.'' 



Plaoti and 
GraMes, 

Beoa. 



Oolloa. 



Kasha. 



Null. 



Bakiba. 



60 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



Baksha. 



Koosha. 



Doobla. 



Hoogla. 



Jow. 



The Bam. 
boo and its 
Tarietiei. 



It is common in the district, and constitutes 
the principal article of fodder for cattle. 
Koosha (Poa Cynosuroides Roxb : ord : Gram :) 
a species of ^* Meadow Grass/' It is confined- 
to the high lands of the northern division : 
it is used for the doors and walls of huts, and 
in its young state is given to cattle. Doobla 
(Panicum Dactylon) creeping Pannick ' grass. 
This perennial grass is found in great 
abundance, and is of a superior quality to that 
of districts to the westward ; it grows luxuri* 
antly in the light soil along the banks of the 
rivers in the southern division, and affords 
the best pasturage in the district. The juice 
of the leaves is used medicinally by Hindoo 
practitioners. Hoogla, (Typha Elephantina 
ord : TyphoB Juss :) Elephant grass or " reed 
mace" as the genus is called in English Bo^ 
tany. It is one of th6 earliest plants that 
appears on the newly formed churs of the 
large rivers of the southern division. Jow^ 
(Tamarix Indica.) Like Ihe preceding, it is 
one of the first plants of spontaneous growth on 
the light churs, especially those situated high 
up the rivers. The Jow and Hoogla are only 
used for fuel. The Hijul, another plant very 
common in the uncultivated parts of the dis- 
trict, is also one of the principal articles of 
fuel. There are four varieties of the Bamboo 
(Bambusa Arundinacea Linn:) cultivated in 
the vicinity of villages, but the whole quan« 
tity that the district produces is compara- 
tively small, and considerable importations of 
it are annually made from the district of 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 61 

Sylhet. The Bun-Bans (Arundinacea Spi- 

nosa) flourishes in the forests of the northern Bamboo tod 

, ' ita varieiiea. 

division, it attains a considerable size, and is 
distinguished from the other varieties by the 
numerous thorns or spines, that shoot out in 
all directions from its roots Tabasheer is 
occasionally found in the bamboos of this 
district, but it is more abundant in the small 
bamboos from Sylhet. This concrete silici- 
ous substance is called ''Bans Kaphoor'' from 
its resemblance to Camphor ; it is known in 
Europe on account of its optical properties, 
and in many parts of the country is applied 
to medicinal purposes, and particularly as a 
remedy in thrush. Next to the Bamboo, a 
tree called the Garallee, is the most exten- TheGaraiice. 
sively useful in this part of the country. It 
is one of the largest trees in the jungle, and 
grows on the elevated ground in clumps or 
detached patches varying from a few hundred 
yards to many miles in extent. In the rainy 
season, when there is a free access by water 
into the interior of the forests, the Garallee is 
cut down in large quantities and sold in the 
city for huts and fuel. Of the other forest 
trees employed for the construction of agri- Fopwt trees 
cultural implements and of articles of domestic "rnuficturiof 
use, the Mango, Hijul, Bier and Gab trees are rffou. 
used for the manufacture of ploughs, the 
Tamarind tree for mortars for expressing oil, 
and for stampers to beat pat for the manufac- 
ture of paper, the Tall tree for weaver's shut- 
tles, canoes and troughs for raising water, and 
the Cadumba for boxes, platters, cups, and 



62 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



es. 



various domestic utensils. Dhenkies or Stam- 
pers, for husking rice, are made out of the Gab, 
Woods used (Diospyros Glutinosa) and boats, beams, and 
rafternofhous. raftcrs for houscs and huts are constructed 06 
the Huritukee (Terminalia Chebula) and 
Boyra (Terminalia Bellerica). The Cathal 
(Artocarpus Integrifolia) is from its lightness 
almost invariably used for the prows of large 
boats, and is in common use among the car- 
penters for trunks, almirahs, and chairs. 
Small boats called Dhoree and Bhadu, which 
are constructed with rattan, instead of iron 
fastenings are made of mango wood. The Dak 
(Butea Frondosa) yields an astringent bark, 
which is likely to become an article of foreign 
commerce. 



Honae far- 
niiure. 



Minerals. 



Iron Ore. 



Minerals. — ^The only mineral substance that 
has yet been found in the District is 
iron ore. It occurs in masses and nodules 
in the red Kunkur soil of the northern divi 
sion, and is met with upon the surface. The 
Circar of Bazoohay, which consisted of this 
part of the country, was celebrated for its iron 
mines in the time of Abul FazeL In reply to 
some enquiries made by Government regard- 
ing the situation of these mines, Mr. Massie, 
the Collector, in the year 1800, mentioned that 
there were then no traces of them, and that 
it was supposed they were overrun with jun- 
gle. The iron is said to have been of an 
inferior quality. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 63 



Second Section. 

CHAPTER III. 

A Sketch of the History of the District. 
The earliest historical tradition connected Ea^'y »»'«*o- 

rical tradition 

with the southern portion of the district, refers connected with 
to the celebrated Rajah Bikramadit, who flou- ob«corc. 
rished, it is supposed, about a century before adT 
the Christian era. This prince is represented 
to have visited many distant parts of India, 
and is said to have selected, in the course of 
his travels through the country, an island at 
the confluence of the Ganges and Berham- 
pooter, where he held his Court for several 
years. He is distinguished among the Hin- 
doos for his wisdom and learning, and various 
legends have been handed down regarding 
him, while he governed at Ojein ; but of his 
history, as it relates to this district, nothing 
is known, and indeed the only memorial of 
his visit to it, that exists, is the name of Bick- 
rampore, which the site of his capital still 
retains. The next rulers we hear of, belonged 
to the Booneahs or Bhuddist Rajahs, who emi- ^^ Booneah 
grated from the western side of India to per- R*J**»«- 
form a religious ceremony in one of the rivers 
lying to the east of the Ganges, and who set- 
tled in Dinagepore, Rungpore, and several 
of the eastern districts. The date of the 
arrival of these Chiefs is not known, but it is 
said to have been at a very remote period. 



64 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

and it is probable, that it was as early at 
ThePaiDy. least as that of Bickramadit. The Pal dy- 
"**'^' nasty of the Kings of Bengal of whom these 

Booneahs were the ancestors, commenced to - 
reign, it would appear from the Ayeen Akber- 
ry, upwards of 1420 years ago, but it is proba- 
ble, that before they acquired this ascendancy 
in the country, a considerable period inter- 
vened, during which the original emigrants 
and their descendants possessed only small 
settlements in the eastern part of the king- 
dom. Three of the Booneah Rajahs took up 
their abode in this district, and in that portion 
of it lying to the north of the Boorigonga 
and Dullasery, where the sites of their capitals 
are still to be seen. Jush Pal resided at Moo- 
dubpore in the pergunnah of Tallipubad, 
Horischunder at Catebarry near Sabar, and 
TheRooneah!< Sissoo Pal at Capassia in Bhowal. From 
fiird nf Riitigr. the similarity existing between the names of 
to he of one these Chiefs and those of the Booneahs that 
*"' ^' settled in Rungpore, it is likely, that they 

belonged to one and the same family. The 
Rungpore branch of Booneahs, it is well 
known, ruled at one time the ancient king- 
dom of Camroop, or Lower Assam, of which 
this district appears to have formed a portion.. 
Abul Fazel mentions, that Camroop originally 
extended down to where the Luckia branches 
off from the Berhampooter, but it is also cer- 
tain from the circumstance of the Koonch 
and Rajbunsi tribes (the aboriginal inhabi- 
tants of that country) being found here in 
considerable numbers, in the present day, that 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 65 

this kingdom reached as far south and west 
as the Boorigonga, Dullasery, and Jenai, 
•which,, no doubt, constituted the boundary 
between it and the kingdom of Bongor, of 
which Bickrampore was the metropolis. The The djnaji. 
dynasty of Adisur or Udsoor is placed in the ^^ 
Ayeen Akberry before that of the Pal Rajahs, 
but it is generally believed in this part of the 
country, that they were contemporaneous, 
and governed the different portions of the 
country, lying to the north and south of the 
Borigonga, at the same time. Adisur is cele- 
brated for his reformation of the Brahminical Befornwihe 

Brabmiucaite. 

caste, by the introduction of five families of 
Brahmins from the city of Kanoje, but with 
the exception of this measure, and the division 
of the country into the kingdoms of Bongor, 
Rarhi and Barendra, which took place in his 
time, there is little known of his reign, and al- 
together his history is involved in as much 
obscurity, as that of his supposed predecessor 
Bikramadit. BoUalsen or Billalsein, concern- Boiuiwn 
ing whose lineage the Ayeen Akberry and f*ri"e7ed'hir°' 
the tradition of the country are at variance, 
is generally considered here to have been the 
immediate successor of Adisur, in the Go- 
Ternment of Bikrampore, and is said to have 
been the Rajah who was reigning there, while 
the Booneah Chiefs still held their sway on 
the northern side of the Boorigonga, at the 
time the Mahommedans conquered this part 
of Bengal. This tradition, which is the popu- 
lar one, does not, however, agree with the state- 

I 



Bucce«sor. 



/ 



66 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

The Ghat- meiits of the Ghuttucks or registrars of the 

tnck» hold a . /• Tfc i • i ii 

differ«Dc opt. marriages oi Brahmms, who are generally 



Dion. 



supposed to be better acquainted with the 
pedigree and history of Bollalsen, than any 
other class of persons in the country. Their 
account, it may be remarked, differs from 
that of Abul Fazel in several points, but 
coincides with it in representing one of Bol- 
lalsein's descendants, as the Rajah who go^ 
verned at Gour, at the time that city was 
taken, while according to them, Donajmadub, 
Bollalsen 's grandson, was the Prince who 
ruled at that time at Bikrampore. Bollalsen 
is supposed by all classes of the Hindoos 
here to have been the son of the Berham- 
pooter, in the guise of a Brahmin, by one of 
Adisur's wives, and to have been born and 
brought up in the jungle to the north of the 
Boorigonga, whither his mother had been 
Farther tra- bauishcd by Adisur. Tradition further as- 
serts, that in gratitude for the protection 
he received from Doorga in this situation, 
he, or Adisur, by whom he was Subsequently 
adopted, built a temple to this goddess, whose 
idol BoUalsein had discovered in the jun- 
gle. This place, from its concealed situation, 
was called Dehaka Iserry, but the jun- 
gle being afterwards cleared away, a town 
sprung up, which received the name of 
Castes remo. *^ Dchaka," or Dacca. Bollalsen was the 
laisea. Rdjah, who remodelled the different castes of 

Hindoos, as they are constituted at the pre* 
sent day. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA* 67 

On the conquest of Bengal by the Moham- Conquest of 
medans in A. D. 1204* the government of the Mohamme. 
eastern districts was confided to Cazis, who im. 
resided at Bikrampore, Sabar, and Suner- 
gong. The most celebrated of these religious 
rulers was Pir Adam, who governed at Bik- 
rampore, where it would appear he made 
himself notorious by his persecution and bi- 
gotry. At a subsequent period, Viceroys Governed by 
were appointed,, and the first person, that is 
mentioned as exercising the authority of one, 
in this part of the country, is Sultan Addeen 
Toghril. In 1279, this Governor marched an 
army into Tipperah, from whence be returned 
with considerable booty, comprising treasure 
and elephants, but afterwards taking up arms 
against Balim, whose slave he had been, he 
was pursued by that Emperor to Sunergong, 
where in attempting to make his escape, he 
was slain by an Officer of the imperial army. 
On the division of the country into the two di^^^d"^"'^''' 
viceroyalties of Lucknowti and Sunergoncr, i*© viceroyai- 

J o O'^ ties,Luckaow. 

in the year 1 299, Behadur Khan was appoint- «* ^^ saner- 
ed to the latter Government. He continued Behadur 

- , Khan, Viceroy 

m the office until 1324, when '^complamts of sunergon^ 

io 1299. 

arriving from Sunergong and Lucknowti," ac- 
cording to Ferishta, ^' that the Emirs and Ma- 
gistrates were exercising great cruelties and 
injustice towards the inhabitants, the Elm- 
peror Toglishah raised an army, and ap- 

* Marco Polo meotiona, that in the year 1272 A. D. while he waa 
reaiding^ at the C4»o#t of the great- Kbaa of Tariary, the kifigdom o# 
Bengala waa taiieo by that chief. The country ia deacribed as having 
a Icing and language of ita own and abouudiog in cotton ** by reason 
thereof mocli and great trading ia eierciaed tbereio/'— if ar«<leitV 
Traoalation. 



68 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

pointing Alif Khan, as his Deputy at Delhi, 
set out to visit the eastern parts of his 
dominions.* Behadur Khan conscious of his 
inability to resist the force that now advanced 

Deposed by agaiust him, submitted to Toglishah or Togh- 

Toghifk!**'*'^" lik, as he is more generally called, and 

followed as a captive in the Imperial train, 

sacceeded to Delhi. Tatar, who succeeded him, receiv- 
Khan. cd the title of Bairam Khan, and governed 

His death ill for a term of fourtccu v ear s. On the death 

1338. 

of Bairam Khan, in 1338, Fakher Addeen, 

his Sillahdar or Armour bearer, assumed 

the red umbrella and other ensigns of royal- 

Government ^Y ^^^^ *^^ ^^^^^ ^^ Sultau Sckuuder, and 

snuwar^wbo ^^^larcd himself independent. He succeed- 

'me of sIiUm ^^ ^^ bribing the troops at Sunergong to 

sekuuder. assassiuate Kudder Khan, by whom he had 

been defeated, and was thus enabled to retain 

possession of the eastern government, for a 

period of two years and a half, when at last 

Deponed and he was dcposcd, and put to death by Aly Mu- 

thJ *cioTernor barick, the Governor of Lucknowti. Of the 

TheKiii^d7m independent Kings, who succeeded Sultan 

dVendeut *"* Sckuudcr, the only persons whose names ap- 

pnucea. ^^^^ • j^ history in connection with this district, 

are Ilyas Khaje Sultan Shumsaddeen Bhen- 
gara ; his son and successor Sultan Sekun- 
der Sha, and Sultan Ala Addeen Hussein 
Sha. They all resided in the strong fortress 
of Ekdalla, in the northern division of the 
district. Here, Ilyas Khaje and his son were 
twice besieged by the Emperor Feroze, who, 

• Navigation and Vojafres by LeviU Vertomannui^ GentlemaQ of 
Rome, translated b> Richard Eden. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 69 

after protracted and unsuccessful attempts to Attempts to 
take the place, was, on both occasions, oblig- country by iha 
ed to withdraw his army ; and at last, ac- Ferotl^L- 
knowledged the independence of Sultan Se- 
kunder Sha. From Ekdalla, Hussein Sha HuwiuSha 
sent an expedition to Camroop, the capital of Tpowertu? ** 
which he took. He is represented by histo- p""^*' 
rians as the most powerful of all the inde- 
pendent Kings that ruled Bengal. When 
Vertomannus visited this country in 1503, he 
was waging war with the King of Narsinga, 
(Orissa) his dominions are described by that 
traveller as being at this time very extensive, 
and his army as " consisting of 200,000 foot- 
men and horsemen Mahumetans."* 

About the end of the 16th century, and Aboutthcieih 
close of the Shore Sha dynasty, which sue- di«"Hc7i/ * 
ceeded to that of the independent Kings of i^I*rp*euy ^'^^^^ 
Bengal, the country in the vicinity of Dacca, ****'*'*• 
appears to have been divided into a number of 
petty states, which were dignified with the 
title of Kingdoms. Tipperah then formed, as Tipperah. 
it does partly at the present day an indepen- 
dent territory, the Rajahs of which, who were 
originally subject to the Kings of Arracan, 
were styled Manick, while the Nobles bore 
the title of Narain. Bacola, the capital of ^t» Capital. 
which, was situated in the present pergunnah 
of Chunderdeep, in the district of Backer- 
gunge, is described by Fitch,| in 1586, as a 

* Brif^efs' Translation of Fermhta. 

t Ralph Fitch wa« otie of the eovoya seat by Queen Elizabeth in 
158^ with letters to the Kiiif^ of Cainbay, and £niperor of China. 
Vide Purchai Collection of TraveU. 



70 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Fiicb'sdescrip. fruitful couutry, abouudiug in rice, cotton and 
couuiry. silk goods. In speaking of the town, he men- 
tions that " the streets are large, and the 
houses very fair, and high builded," and. 
quaintly remarks that ^' the King is a Gentile, 
a man very well disposed, and delighteth 
much to shoot with a gun." " The women 
wear great store of silver hoops about their 
necks and arms, and their legs are ringed with 
silver and copper, and rings made of elephant's 
teeth." Seeripore, another of these principal 
lities, was situated about six leagues to the 
PortufTuene south of Suuergoug, The Portuguese are said 
Seeripore in to havc Settled horc, about the middle of the 
theTeih Mn- 16th century, and at the time of Fitch's visit, 
*"^^' they possessed considerable, if not, sole autho- 

rity, in this part of the country. '* The chief 
King of all these countries," Fitch further re- 
marks in speaking of Sunergong, '^ is called 
Isacan, and he is the chief of all the other 
Kings, and is a great friend to the Christians." 
The city of Chandican, whose Rajah appears 
to have lived chiefly by piracy, lay to the south 
of Bacola, in that portion of the Sunderbunds 
Chatiffan coutiguous to the mouth of the Megna. Cha- 
portions of tiie tigau and Sundiva or oundeep formed a part 
Arra^M. ^ of the Kingdom of Arracan. Sundeep is 
described by the Venetian traveller Caesar 
Frederick, about the year 1565, as one of the 
most fertile places in the country, as being 
densely peopled, and well cultivated. He 
mentions the extraordinary cheapness of pro- 
visions here, and states, that 200 ships were 
laden, yearly, with salt, and that such was the 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 71 

abundance of materials for ship building in ceiebmied m 
this part of the country, that the Sultan of .wp^buUdiug. 
Constantinople found it cheaper to have his 
vessels built here, than at Alexandria. Her- 
bert, also, about 80 years afterwards, bears 
testimony to the great fertility of this island^ 
which he designated as one of the fairest and 
most fruitful spots in all India.* 



When the Afghans were driven from the in- xheAfffhang 

• 4»Tfc iiAiij 1 ^ driven from 

tenor of Bengal by Akber s army, the greater Benfrai by ihe 

number of them took refuge in the frontier beTuke re. 

districts of Orissa and Dacca. Here they as- l"Jd ol ism"* 

sembled in a considerable body, and took up 

their abode in the forests of the northern divi- 

sion where they were afterwards put to the , Afterward* 

•^ ^ defeated by 

route, by Rajah Man Sing at Serrpore in the R«j»*h m^q 

pei^nnah of Attyah* They soon, however, subsequently 

recovered from tliis defeat, and after a short ieUM.*^ ****" 

time succeeded in raising forts at Gonockpara 

and Guripara, in the vicinity of Dumroy, where 

they were allowed to remain unmolested by 

Rajah Man Sing, who, it is said, dispaired of 

ever being able to subdue them. On the death 

of the Emperor Akber, in 1605, Osman Khan, on Akber^s 

one of their chiefs, collected 20,000 of his one oflheir' 

countrymen, and was proclaimed king. With g^mtiTthtmie 

this force he overran the lower part of Bengal, ''^^^^«' 

and kept possession of this part of the coun- 

try, until 1612, when after a long contested 

battle on the banks of the Subanreeka in 

Orissa, he was slain, and his army defeated Defeated by 

by Shujaet Khan and Ethamam Khan, two ^offieenf*' 

* Sir Thomas Herbert's Trayels. 



72 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



The Beat of 
Governroeiit 
removed from 
Riijinahl to 
Uttcca. 



Probable 
cauBe. 



Herbcrt'8 
account. 



The Portu- 
(fiieftc and 
i^1u|>;M unite 
ifvtih the Rajah 
tff Arracan. 



Mogul Officers, who had been sent against 
him by Islam Khan, the Governor of the 
Province. Gladwin states, that it was after 
this victory, that Islam Khan removed the 
seat of Government, from Rajmahl to Dacca. 
This is about four years later than the date 
assigned by Stewart,* who it may be remark- 
ed, mentions the descent of the Mughs upon 
the coast, as the probable cause of the trans- 
fer. According to Herbert, on the other 
hand, the Afghans were defeated in 16l4.t 
He states, that they besieged and took "Daec 
the metropolis," but that Shujaet Khan and 
Ethamam Khan "with 15,000 men, gave 
Ozman battle, which was bravely fought on 
both sides, but by reason of a mad elephant 
on which Ozman sat, Izediat Chawne was 
tmhorsed and maimed, yea the Mogul forces 
discomfited ; but by strange chance, a wound- 
ed man seeing Ozman pass by, transfixes 
him with his lance, and by that mischance 
the Puttans retreat and at length fly, the 
Moguls not only recovering Daec, but pier- 
cing into the very heart of the Gentiles^ 
country, they capture Ozman's wife and 
children, foraging at pleasure, and making 
all his wealth (which was very great, and 
sent to Agra) a testimony of their valour as 
well as victory." Shortly after the expul- 
sion of the Afghans from the district, the 
Mughs and Portuguese were defeated by 
Islam Khan. The Kajah of Arracan, who 

* Stewart's History of Beng>al. 
t Herbert travelled ia 1621. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 73 

had formed an alliance with Sebastian Gon- Make a des. 
zales, the Portuguese pirate, at this time in Pro?ince. 
possession of Sundeep, and whose army con- 
sisted of 1000 Portuguese, 2000 Sepoys, 200 
Cavalry, besides 80 well armed vessels of 
different sizes, made a descent upon the south- 
ern part of the province. After laying waste 
the country along the eastern bank of the 
Megna, their combined forces proceeded, by 
land and water, as high up as Luckipore, proceed ta 
where they were met by the Moghul troops, witore^heyare 
and put to the route with great slaughter. fhlM^huu/ 
Islam Khan governed at Dacca for about one 
year after this event, and was succeeded by 
his brother Cossim Khan. From the acces- co^sim Khan 
sion of the Viceroy, down to the time that ^**'*''**y 
the seat of Government was removed by Sul- Government 
tan Shujah, (an interval of 26 years,) the dis- Rajmahi. "* 
trict appears to have suffered from internal 
war, as well as foreign aggression. In 1621, 1621, shah 
Shah Jehan advanced from Orissa and appear- c« from orilll 
ed before the town, with a considerable force Jhi *°Gofirn! 
of horse and elephants. On his approach, ^^^ 
Ibrahim Khan, the Governor of the province, 
fled to Rajmahl : thither, he was followed by 
the rebel prince, who, after defeating the im- 
perial troops, and capturing the Nowarrah or 
fleet, (during which Ibrahim Khan was killed,) 
returned to Dacca in pursuit of Ahmud Beg, Pareues ah- 
the Soubahdar of Orissa, " robbing and 8o"abahdfr * of 
spoiling," according to Herbert, " all this "*** 
wealthy province, preying upon its gold and 
jewels, acting unchastities, and forcing oaths 
and hostages from the inhabitants, to become 

K 



74 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

his subjects." On the arrival of the prince^ 
Ahroud Beg Ahmud Beg made his submission to him, and 
delivered up the government treasure, amount- 
ing to 4 crores of rupees, and all the pro- 
perty of Ibrahim Khan his uncle, consisting 
of 25 lacs of rupees, 500 elephants, and 400 
horses, besides muslins and aggur wood of 
great value. During the brief term of Shah 
DarebKhao, Jchau's usurpatiou, DarabKhan, the son of the 
theProFiDcc, Khan Khanan, or chief of the nobility, . was 
j^aa. ^^**' entrusted with the government of the province. 
He continued to govern for some months 
until, on attempting to levy troops in aid of 
his master, after the defeat of the latter by 
Prii\qe Purveez, he was proclaimed a traitor, 
and a reward being offered for his person, 
(according to Herbert) he was seized by the 
Zemindars of the district, and sent by 
them to the royal camp, where he was in- 
h put to stantly beheaded. This is Herbert version 
of Darab Khan's history, but other ac- 
counts state, that he proved a traitor to 
Shah Jehan, and that his son, who had been 
placed in the hands of the prince as a hos- 
tage, paid the forfeit of his life for his 
father's treachery. Further that Darab rely- 
ing on the clemency of Prince Purveez and 
the interest of his father, surrendered him- 
self a prisoner to the Imperial troops, but that 
Jehangire refused to spare him, and ordered 
Comparative his head to bc sent to Agra. During the Go- 
a™ri^.* ^ ""^ vernments of Khanareid Khan, Mukurrem 
Khan, and Fedai Khan, the eastern districts 
enjoyed comparative tranquillity, but in the 



death 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 75 

succeeding administrations of Cossim Khan invasion, in 
Jobung, Aazim Khan, and Islanni Khan Mush- A^^^eJ^, ^**^ 
hedy, they were again invaded by their fron- 
tier enemies. In 1638 the Assamese des- 
cended the Berhampooter and had almost 
reached Dacca, when they were met by Islam 
Khan Mushedy with the Nowarrah. An j^^^^^^ ^ 
engagement ensued in which 4000 of them *^* Mo«iiuu 

^ ^ who iriTade 

were slain, and the Moghul Governor follow- •»»«*•• territo. 

^ riea in reiuro. 

ing up his victory, penetrated into the enemy's 

country and took fifteen of their forts. The c^u,.,jj^ ^^ 

Mughs had been for years previously, no |[>«. V"^*** *" 

^ */ r •f ^ (beir irrupt runs 

less daring in their irruptions into the southern >«to the south. 

^ * ^ cru froutier 

parts of the district, and were in the habit of 
committing the most atrocious cruelties on 
the inhabitants, and of carrying many of 
them off into slavery. The established rental rp,,^ ^^^^ 
of the country was at this time almost entirely [orbl7hi\^!l\ 
absorbed in jageers assigned to protect the coalu from 
coasts from their ravages, and such was the ^'^^^* 
reduced state of the revenue, that Fedai Khan 
obtained the Government, on condition of pay- 
ing 10 lacs of rupees a year, viz. 5 lacs to the 
Emperor and the same sum to Noor Jehan 
Begum in full of the imperial dues ; while on 
the invasion of the Assamese, it is said that 
not a single rupee was remitted to Delhi. 
During the Governments of Cossim Khan 
Jobung, and Aazim Kh^n, they appear to have 
been very troublesome, but in the time of 
Islam Khan Mushedy the district enjoyed 
«ome respite from their aggression, through 
the conduct of Makat Ray, the chief of Arrac, 
who rebelled against his sovereign the Rajah 



76 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

of Arracan, and now sought the protection of 
the Moghul Emperor. Islam Khan Mushedy 
on his return from Assam was appointed to 
the high office of Vizier, and was succeeded by 
Syf Khan. This Nawaub acted as Viceroy 
for a few months, but of his history little is 
Shu-r**r"*^ known. In 1639 Sultan Mohammed Shujah 
pointed Vice- was appointed Viceroy of the Soubah, and 

royoftheSou. *^ -^ 

bab in 1639. durfug the twcuty ycars which he held the 
Reform* ihe Govemment, he distinguished himself by 

Government. ^ o ^ 

the reforms he introduced into all departments 
of the state. Under his administration an 
improved " Jumma Toomary" or rent roll of 
the territorial revenue of the country was 
made out, and the amount of revenue consi- 
increaseofre- dcrablv incrcascd by the addition of 16 

venue* •^ "^ 

Circars to those of Torell Mull, arising from 

the acquisitions of territory in Orissa, and 

the late conquests in Assam. Sultan Shujah, 

Seat of Go. after a short residence at Dacca, made Rai- 

vernment , •' 

transferred to mahl the Capital of the country, during which 

li^jmahl. 

time, the charge of the eastern districts was 

confided to Deputy Governors, the first of 

^ whom was Aazim Khan. The most flourish- 

The roost 

6oarishing era ing era, pcrhaps, in the history of Dacca, was 

in tiie history ^,. i-mir xi 

of Dacca. from the time that Meer Jumla, on his acces- 

Viceroyalty . i xt* i • ^ 

ofMecr jum- siou to the Viccroyalty m 1660, agam con- 
stituted it the seat of Government, down to 

« 

the period when Moorshedabad became the 

metropolis of the province. With the view 

of guarding against an invasion from Arra- 

Forts erecu can, Mccr Jumla built the different forts 

ed. 

about the confluence of the Luckia and Issa- 
mutty, and constructed several good military 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 77 

roads and bridges in the vicinity of the town. Consirucis 

• 1 /• 1 "I 1 /• roads atid 

On receiving intelligence of the death of the bridges, 

unfortunate Sultan Shujah at Arracan, he set 

out from the fort of Hajegunge on the Luckia 

with a large force, consisting of infantry and 

artillery, and the Nowarrah, to invade Assam, invades a»- 

Here, he obtained a series of successes, but 

was at length obliged to retreat from the K«*»*ea<" in 

^ ^ consequence of 

country, on account of the sickness and »he»ickne88 

^ ^ aod mortality 

mortality among his troops. He returned »™o"8r »»>• 

. troops. 

sick himself, and died in the vicinity of His death. 
Dacca ; and according to the popular tradi- 
tion, his body was removed, agreeably to his 
last request, to his birth-place near Ispahan. 
The memory of Meer Jumla is still greatly 
revered among the Mussulmaun inhabitants 
here, who speak of him under the title of 
Khan Khanan, as one of the most distinguish- 
ed Nawaubs that ever governed at Dacca. 
Shaista Khan Ameer Al Omrah, the nephew of 8^.^^^^^^, 
the Empress Noor Jehan, was appointed to ^ ***»*»*^* 
the Government in succession to Meer Jumla. 
One of the first measures of this Nawaub was ^^^^ ^^.^^^ 
to fit out an expedition against Chittagong, Qhitu'^on*''" 
which was now besieged and taken, and in 
commemoration of the success of the Moslem 
arms, its name was at this time changed to 
that of Islamabad. With the exception of an 
interval of two years, during which Fedai 
Khan, Aazim Khan, and Sultan Mohammed 
Azim, the third son of Aurengzebe, acted as 
Viceroys, the Nawaub Shaista Khan adminis- period of 
tered the afiairs of the Government for a l^^'tj^l?**"^'" 
period of 15 years. At this time the city, in- 



78 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

eluding its suburbs, covered with gardens and 
Extent of houses, extended to Tunghy, a distance of 14 
Dacca at that milcs, the greater part of which is now in 
jungle. A considerable number of public 
buildings as mosques, alms-houses, &c. were 
raised by Shaista Khan, and judging from the 
prevalence of the style of building or mason* 
ry which is here called " Shaista Khany," a 
great portion of the large brick built houses 
of the town appear to have been erected in 
Tranquil and ^^^ timc. From the hcavy duties that were 
MaTe^Trthe ^^^i^^ ^^ ^^^ cxportation of gr^in and oil, 
disirict. provisions were procurable at exceedingly 
moderate prices, and the district is represent- 
ed as enjoying at this period a degree of pros- 
perity and tranquillity, to which it had been a 
stranger, for years previously. In obedience 
to the orders of Aurengzebe, the different Eng- 
EoMishFdc- ^'^^ factories in the country were confiscated 
lafed b*^*"o?der ^y ^^^^^ Nawaub, and the commercial agents 
ofAupcngrzcbe. at Dacca were kept in irons for sometime, 

either by him, or his Deputy Behadur Khan. 
On the dismissal of the Nawaub Ibrahim 
Khan from the Government, after the break- 
ing out of Sooba Sing's insurrex;tion in Burd- 
wan, the Emperor Aurengzebe who was then 
Appoints his residing in the Deccan, appointed his grand- 
fhe"**Niiam'ot 80n Princc Aazim Ooshaun to the Nizamut of 
of Bengal; Bcugal, whilc at the same time with the view 
of encreasing the public revenue, in which 
there had been no improvement since the 
„ ^ ^ time of Sultan Shujah, he bestowed the 

BpsIowh the *' 

Dewannv on Dewaunv on Moorshud Kooli Khan, who had 

Moorshud ** ^ 

Kooli Khan, already distinguished Mmsclf In the inferior 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 79 

offices of the department. One of the first HinreCorm*. 

proceedings of the Dewan, was to disband 

the royal household troops consisting of 

3000 horse, which were of little use in a low crcaiiy in. 

creaMS there. 

country like Dacca, and to resume the venue. 
jagheers appropriated for their support. By 
these means, and by an investigation which 
he instituted to ascertain the proportional 
assessment of the province, he was enabled 
greatly to encrease the revenues of the state. 
But while the Dewan thus gained favor at 
the Court of the Emperor, he became an 
object of envy and dislike to Aazim Oos- Become* %n 
haun, who could not submit to the controu], to Aazim oos- 
which was thus exercised over the pecuniary 
affairs of his Government. The prince there- 
fore, was soon induced to listen to a proposal, 
.which was made to him, to get rid of his 
rival in office. Abdal Vahid who command- 
ed one of the Nugudy* regiments of horse, 
undertook to way -lay and assassinate Moor- whoattpmpta 
shud Kooli Khan, and with this intent, he hL*"**"'"* * 
and his troops accosted the Dewan on the 
street, while he was on his way to pay a 
visit of ceremony to the prince. They de- 
manded in an insolent manner their arrears 
of pay, and attempted to prevent him from 
proceeding, but M oorshud Kooli Khan per- 
ceiving their object, put himself at the head 
of his armed retinue, and forced his way to 
the palace. Here he upbraided Aazim Oos- 
haun with treachery, accused him of being 
a party to the conspiracy, and challenged 

* So named froin being paid in monej. 



80 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

chaiienpres him to siiigle combat, which was declined by 

Aazim Oosh- . . 

aun to single the priiice. On his return home, Moorshud 

combat. , 

Kooh Khan transmitted to the Emperor an 
account of the insult he had received, and 
considering that it would be no longer safe to 
remain in the same place with the prince, 
RemoFM to ho took up his rcsidcncc at Mux^tdabad or 

SI oorehedabad. 

Moorshedabad, as it was henceforth called. 

In consequence of the representation to the 

Aaiim oo«. Empcror, Aazim Ooshaun was ordered to pro- 

haun ordered i -r* i i i i -i 

to Bebar de- ccod to Behar, but as no person had been 

livers over the 

Governmeot nominated as his successor in Bengal, he 
rokahere. made ovcr the Government to his son Ferok- 
shere. This prince, with the advice and 
counsel of Ser Bolund Khan, now adminis- 
tered the affairs of the province ; and during 
the time he resided at Dacca, he endeared 
himself to the inhabitants, by his benevolence 
KooH^Khan and lovc of justicc. Moorshud Kooli Khan 
appoiute a- ^^^ aftcrwards appointed Nazim by Aureng- 

zebe, but it was not until Ferokshere was 
seated on the throne of Delhi, that he was 
formally recognized as such, and installed 
in the office with the title of Mutimum al 
Moolk. 



In 1704 the The Govemmeut of the eastern districts of 

eastern dis- 
tricts of Ben- Bengal, from the time, (1704) that Dacca 

gul, governed ^ ^ ^ 

by a Deputy, thus ccascd to bc the seat of viceroyalty j was 

made over to a Naib or Deputy of the Nazim* 

They constituted by far the largest and most 

•nd^bound*^"* valuable province in the country, extending 

"«• from the Garrow hills on the north, to the 

Sunderbunds on the south, and from the Tip- 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 81 

perah hills on the east, to Jessore on the west, 
comprising altogether an area of 15«397 square 
miles, '* while the Neabut or Government 
was considered the first, and most lucrative 
appointment under the Nizamut, the jurisdic- 
tion being the largest, the province the rich- 
est, and the rents, though valued low on the 
royal registers, being always rated highest 
ii^ the separate rent roll of the provincial 
delegate."^ In 1713, Mirza Lutf-uUah was nid, Mim 
appointed Naib. He was married to a grand pointed Naib/ 
daughter of Morshud Kooli Khan, who now 
assumed the title of Jaffier Khan, while that 
of Morshud Kooli Khan was bestowed on 
Mirza Lutf-ullah. During the administration 
of this Naib, the territory of Tipperah, which Tipperahw. 
from the time of Sha Jehan, had only ac- province by 
knowledged fealty to the Moghul Govern- 
ment by a few annual presents, was now 
re-conquered and annexed to the province. 
After this conquest, Mirza Lutf-ullah or Mor- 
shud Kooli Khan as he was now called, was 
appointed by his father-in-law, Shuja Ad- Appointed 
deenKhan, to the Government of Orissa, with mentor orinsa 
the title of Rustum Jung. Serferaz Khan, Rnttum juo^. 
the son of the Nawaub Shuja Addeen Khan, khm' no^ed. 
next received the appointment of the Dacca riSdVi •t'*'*^ 
Neabut. He resided at Moorshedabad, and Jlr^o^'J;** 
carried on the Government by two deputies, ^^J^^ ^*'"*' 
viz. Jesswunt Roy, who had been his tutor, 
and a person of the name of Ghalib Ali Khan, 
who was related to the royal family of Persia. 

* Appendix to the 5th Report on the Affvire of the East India ConpaDjr. 

L 



82 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

During their joint administration, the pro-^ 
vince is said to have been in a very flourish- 
improved ing condition ; the imposts and heavy duties 
province/ ^ that worc levied by Meer Hubeeb, the Minis- 
ter of the preceding Nawaub, were abolished, 
and justice was administered with impartiali- 
ty, while plenty and peace reigned through- 
Mnrad Aii out the couutry. Murad Ali, who had receiv- 
controUed ma- cd chargc of the Nowarrah at the time the 
affffrT.^"' ° two deputies were sent to Dacca, was now, 

through the influence of Nufiesa Begum, the 
sister of Serferaz Khan, appointed in the 
room of Ghalib Ali who was recalled. His 
colleague Jesswunt Roy, having soon after- 
wards resigned his office of Dewan, the ad- 
ministration of afiairs was thus left to the 
uncontrolled management of Murad Ali, who, 
with his associate RajbuUub, the Peshkar of 
mUruirfhe the Nowarrah, soon reduced the district from 
dk^ced^o* p^ its state of prosperity to comparative poverty 
▼erty and diB- ^^^ distrcss. Shamut Jung Nowarish Mo- 

shamut hammed Khan, the nephew and son-in-law 
5sh"Moham-'" of Alvcrdi Khau, was next invested with the 
Mcceed8*"ser- Government in succession to Serferaz Khan, 
fcraz Khan, jjj^^ j^-^ pj-edeccssor, he resided at Moorshe- 

dabad, and acted in the two fold capacity of 
Imperial Dewan and Deputy Nazim, appoint- 
appo*lntraeu!8 mcuts which he held for many years, prior to 
Naib ^ot^Bm^ the British conquest of the country. He em- 
'*'• ployed as his Deputy at Dacca, Hossein 

Add^^n'Khan Addccn Khau, the nephew of Hossein Kooli 
hu Deputy at Khau, his minister at Moorshedabad. When 
Dacca. Alvcrdi Khan declared in favor of his adopt- 

ed son Seraje Ad Dowlah, as his successor to 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 83 

the MusDud, feuds arose between the heir-ap- Feuds arise 
parent and Shamut Jung, which ended in the Ad^DowuiT ^ 
assassination of Hossein Addeen Khan at jung. *"** 
Dacca, and that of his uncle at Moorshedabad. 
Aga Sadoc, the son of a wealthy Zemindar in 
the Backergunge district, was employed by 
Seraje Ad Dowlah to carry his plans into A^ra sadoc 
effect at this place. This person, who had seraje ^Id ^ 
proceeded to Moorshedabad to appeal against 
a decision of Hossein Addeen's, instead of 
obtaining the redress he expected, was detain- 
ed a prisoner there by Hossein Kooli Khan. 
He was soon induced, therefore, to listen to 
the proposals of Seraje Ad Dowlah. Effect- 
ing his escape from Moorshedabad, he return- 
ed to Dacca, where his father Mohammed on uw rather 

Mohammed 

Bakher was now residing, and prevailing on Bakhenojom 

.... . . in the coatpi- 

him to join in the conspiracy, on the promise racy. 

of being made Naib, the party contrived to 

get admission into the palace at the dead of 

night, and murdered Hossein Addeen. When 

the assassination became known the following 

morning, the inhabitants of the town rose 

in a body and attacked Mohammed Bakher 

and his son. The former, on being required 

to produce the Sunnud for his appointment to The latter 

- *^ _ - , . , , . ^'^ , , killed by the 

the Neabut," pointed to his sword, and was inhabitants, 
immediately killed, but Aga Sadoc, though doc escapes. ' 
severely wounded, contrived to escape. Raj- Rajbuiiub 
bullub, the Peshkhar of the Nowarrah Shamui jun^ 
Mehals, was now appointed by Shamut '* ^^"'^"^ 
Jung Nowarish to administer the Government, 
in the room of Hossein Addeen. His tirst 



84 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Conflicates proceeding was to confiscate all the property 

!!f* the'cS^r^ belonging to the conspirators, out of which he 

app7^riate«l appropriatcd to himself a large portion of the 

himwiV^ ** *"* land, that afterwards constituted the yaluable 

Zemindaree of Rajanaghur. RajbuUub is 

AmsMM said to have amassed, during the short time 
grea wea . j^^ ^^^ .^ offico, the immense sum of two 

crores of rupees. A great portion of this 
money was conveyed out <rf the district by 
his son Kissen Dass, who, under the pretence 
of visiting Juggernaut, repaired to Calcutta, 
after the death of Shamut Jung. It was 
in search of this treasure, which Kissen Dass 
was supposed to have taken into Fort William, 
Thesoppoved whou hc took rofugo thcrc, that Suraje Ad 
Ad'^DowiIh's Dowlah was induced to commence hostilities 
Eoyluh^aild* s^ainst the English, which ended in the revo- 
iHpiJemlr*?!"' lutiou of 1757, by which they acquired pos- 
sncceeded scssiou of the couutry. Rajbullub was suc- 
Khan u^^Naib. cecded by Jusscraut Khan. This person, who 
had been a Government Mohurrer in the 
district, continued to act as Naib during the 
Governments of Alverdi Khan, Seraje Ad 
Dowlah, Cossim AH, &c., down to the year 
1781. In 1763 he was ordered by Cossim 
Ali to put all the English at Dacca to 
death, but instead of obeying this barbarous 
mandate of the Nawaub's, he nobly gave 
them his protection, and sent them to Cal- 
cutta with a trusty guard. At the time the 
The compa. Compauy acquired the Dewanny, there was a 
jjewannj. ^ Considerable number of State prisoners at 
Dacca, consisting chiefly of the families of 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 86 

Serferaz Khan, and of Hossein Kooli Khan.* 

In 1767, Lord Clive obtained their release, state pri- 
soners releaaed 

and fi'ranted pensions to them to the amount by Lord cuve 

• i« 1 • 1 ^ aodpeoiioned. 

of Rupees 34755, a portion of which, some of 
their descendants still continue to receive. Jus- jum^raot 
seraut Khan died in 1781, and left three nii. *** ^ 
grandsons by a daughter, (his only child,) who 
was married to Meer Mortaza, a native of 
Arabia. Hasmut Jung the eldest, was Na- Hanmut jun^ 
waub for seven years; and Nusserut Jung Nu«aerut 
for a period of thirty-seven years. Both °"^ *''*'* ' 
died without issue, and were succeeded Sacceeded 
by their youngest brother Shumshoodowlah. elt brother"*^ 
This Newaub in 1800 and during the life ^^IT^""' 
tijne of his brother Nusserut Jung, was tried thnufe tlme^o^ 
along with Mirza Jan Tupish on a charge ^^'flS**** 
" of attempting to subvert the British Go- f„°g \^^„7^*: 
vemment in Bengal ; of endeavouring to con- Jj^^^i^ ^ 
nect himself with the Zemindars of Behar, wunam. 
with a design of exciting internal commotion, 
and of keeping up a treasonable correspond- 
ence." He was convicted, and was for some- 
time a prisoner in Fort William, but was 
afterwards released, and appointed to the u released 
Nabobship on the death of his brother in jJa^wauT"** 
1822. He died in 1831. His son Koome- Die8ini83i. 
roodowlah was Nawaub for about three years, ^^* *"^^**' 
and was succeeded by the present incum- 
bent in 1834. 

* One of these prisoners named Ammanee Khan« a son of Serferax 
Khan, entered Into a eoospiracy in 1757 to seize Jnsseraat Khan, and 
talce possession of the fort, but the attempt failed, ihroueh one of the 
cooppiratom, who divulf^ed the bosineas to the Nawanb. Lotf al Nissa» 
the widow of Seraje Ad Dowlah, was added to the number by Jaffier 
Khan, on suspicion of bclinr a party to Abdah Hadee Khan's con- 
spiracy to remove him from ihe Masnud. 



86 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The City — Towns — Villages and Pergunnalis 
— Roads and Means of Communication. 



Site of 
Dacca. 



The city stands upon the northern bank of 
the Boorigonga, about eight miles above its 
confluence with the DuUaserry. The river, 
which is here deep and navigable, by large 
boats, expands in the season of inundation 
to a considerable breadth, and gives to Dacca 
with its minarets and spacious buildings, the 
appearance, like that of Venice in the west, of 
a city rising from the surface of the water. 

Boandariea: It is bouudcd, ou the cast, by a low alluvial 

• 

plain, that extends to the Luckia, and, on the 
north and north-west, by a tract of jungle 
interspersed with Mussulmaun cemetries, and 
deserted gardens, mosques and houses now in 
ruins. During the rains, the lower level of 
this portion of the environs is inundated to 
a depth of many feet, at which season, the 
town is completely insulated by a labyrinth 
of creeks and morasses, that join the Boori- 
gunga and Luckia. Dacca, comprising the 
space within the limits of its ten tannahs, 
covers an area of thirty-nine square miles, but 
the part, strictly speaking, that constitutes 
the town, is confined to the bank of the river, 
along which, its streets, bazars and lanes 
extend to a distance of four miles in length, 
and about a mile and a quarter in breadth. 
It is intersected in its interior by a branch of 



Insulated 
daring the 
raitiM. 



Extent. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA* 87 

the Dullye creek ; and like the generality of 
native towns, it is irregularly built, consisting 
of brick houses and straw huts, standing Descriptioa 
close to each other, and laid out in narrow 
crooked streets and lanes. Its two principal 
streets are joined nearly at right angles. One streets^ 
extends from the Lall Baugh to the Dullye 
creek, and is upwards of two miles in 
length: it runs at a little distance from, 
and nearly parallel to the river; and has 
branch streets leading to the ghauts. The 
other street leads to the Cantonments, and 
the suburbs to the north of the town : it is 
about a mile and a quarter in length, and is 
considerably wider, and more regularly built 
than the former one. At the junction of these 
streets, there is a small open space, which is 
laid out in the form of a square, with a circu- 
lar garden in its centre, and in the vicinity of 
this square, and along the bank of the river to 
the distance of half a mile, are situated the 
English Factory, 8t. Thomas's Church, the Pabiic Bona. 
Government School, tlte Native Hospital, and ""^^ 
most of the houses of the European residents. 
The Chouk or Market place, is situated at the "The chonk. 
west end of the town, and in the line of street, 
that runs parallel to the river. It is a square 
of pretty large dimensions, and is surrounded 
chiefly by mosques and shops. The open 
space, in which the bazar is held, is enclosed 
by a low wall, with a carriage road around it, 
and has in its centre, a large gun, which was 
found some years ago on the bank of the river. 
The numerous streets that intersect the town, 



88 TOPOGRAPHY QF DACCA. 

are extremely narrow and crooked, and only, 
a few, which were widened by Mr. Walters, 
about ten years ago, are wide enough to admit 
of a wheeled conveyance passing through 
them. The intermediate spaces are filled up 
with houses and huts, usually arranged in the 
form of squares or Chouks, which are separa- 
ted from each other by narrow foot-paths, and 
generally surrounded by jungle and deep pits, 
from which earth has been dug for the 
Style of ar. purposcs of buildiug. The style of archi- 
fhiiecture. tccturc is much the same, as that of other 
towns in Bengal. The houses facing the 
streets, are generally very narrow, and are 
from one to four stories in height. In 
some parts of the city inhabited by parti-* 
cular castes, as in the weavers, and shell^cut* 
ters' bazars, where ground for building lets 
at a high rate, many of the four storied houses 
have a frontage only of eight or ten feet, 
while the side walls, unperforated either 
with doors or windows, run back to a distance 
of twenty yards. The extremities of these 
buildings only, are roofed in, the middle part 
of the dwelling, above the first story, being 
left open and constituting a small Court. 
European In- The houscs of the Europcau residents are 
I^rJ^e'^on Ti^ iarge, and well built, and give to the town, a 
H?er* ^^ **** somewhat imposing appearance on the ap- 
proach to it from the south. Most of them 
are situated on the bank of the Boorigonga, 
and have terrace gardens, the walls of which 
are washed by the river in the rains. In tlie 
Armenian and Greek quarters of the town. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 89 

there are also several large brick built houses, 
but most of them are falling into ruin. 

The works and places of public utility, the 3J|'/''||,gt7tu'''^' 
public buildings, institutions and establish* ^*°""- 
ments in the city and suburbs, are the follow- 
ing. 1 St— Ten Thannahs or Police Stations. BrTd^^w?*''' 
2 — Ten Bridges across the DuUye Creek and 
its branch, which intersects the town : one of 
them is a handsome iron Suspension Bridge, 
which was erected by public contribution 
during the Magistracy of Mr. Walters in 1 830, 
to whose public spirit the city is chiefly in- 
debted for this, as well as many other great 
improvemnents conducive to the health and 
comfort of the inhabitants. 3 — Thirteen 
Ghauts or landing places. Seven Ferry-sta- chanu. 
tions. 5 — ^Twelve Bazars or Markets, in which uon«. 
the common articles of food are sold daily. 
6.— Three Endaras or Wells. 7— The Magis- weii.. 
trate's Cutcherry. 8— The Judge's ditto. 9— c««chcrrj. 
The Collector's ditto. 10 — ^The Revenue Com- 
missioner's ditto. 1 1 — The MoonsifFs ditto. 
12 — ^The Post Office: five branch Mails are Poetoifi.e. 
sent to the following places, viz. to Calcutta : 
to Chittagong and Arracan : to Mymensing, 
Jumalpore, and Assam : to Sylhet, Chirra 
Poonjee andtoBurrisaul. 13 — ^TheCotwallee. Cotwaiiee. 
14— TheJail. 15— The JailHospital. 16— The Jan. ^ 
Lunatic Asylum. 17 — ^The Native Hospital. Lunatic 
18 — The Vaccine Establishment. 19 — The Native ho«. 
Charitable Fund. 20 — St. Thomas's Church. ^'^Vaccine 
21 — The Baptist Mission Meeting Hous^. 22 "("hariirw" 
— The Roman Catholic Church. 23 — The Ar- "chlirchei. 

M 



90 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

churchw menian Church. 24 — ^The Greek Church. 25 — 
ivonhip. One hundred and nineteen Hindoo places of 
worship. 26 — The Government School. 27 — 
Schoota. Eleven Baptist Mission Schools. 28— Four- 
teen Hindoo and M ahommedan Schools. 29 — 
One hundred and eighty Mahommedan places 
of worship. 30 — ^The Conservancy Depart- 
Gro""d' nient. 31 — The English, Armenian and Greek 
Cemetries. 32 — The Executive Officer's Estab- 
lishment. 33 — ^The Commissariat Office. 34 — 
The Military Orphan Station Committee. 35 — 
CantonmeDts. Cantonmcuts for a Regiment of Native Infan* 
^Elephant try and Detachment of Artillery. 36 — Depot 
MuMuinan of Elcphauts. The principal Mahommedan 
ship. ' places of worship are the Edgah and Hossa- 

nee Delaun. The former was erected in 1640, 
by Meer Abool Kassim, the household dewan 
of Sultan Shujah, to accommodate that prince 
and his numerous retinue at their prayers on 
the celebration of the Ead ; and the latter is 
said to have been built by a person named 
Meer Moraud, who held the Darogahship of 
the Nowarrah Mehals, and had charge of the 
public buildings in the time of Sultan Moham- 
med Azim. The tradition regarding the lat- 
ter edifice is, that Meer Moraud saw in a 
vision, Emam Hossain erecting a Tazuah- 
Kannah or house of mourning, and that he 
was induced in consequence to raise the pre- 
sent building, which he named Hossanee De- 
laun. He defrayed the expense of illuminat- 
ing it during the Mohurrum, and of feeding 
the poor at this festival, and the allowanccf 
then established by him was continued by the 



wor. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 91 

Governors of the province. The annual sum 
of Rs. 2,500 is at present granted by Govern- 
ment to the Nawaub for the same purpose- 
The chief Hindoo place of worship is the Hindoo 
temple of Dehaka Serry, which is situated Ih*p!*° 
about a couple of miles to the west of the 
Chouk. It is said to have been established 
by BoUalsen, but of the original building 
erected by him, there are no traces existing. 
This place became the property of a Hindoo 
in the service of one of tUcNawaubs, and the 
present temple, it is said, was re-built about 
100 years ago, by a person in the employ 
of the Company at the Commercial Factory. 

The word Dhaka or Dacca is supposed by Derivatioa 
some persons to be derived from Dhak, the J{J^* ***'*^ 
name of ti tree (Butea frondosa,) which is 
plentiful here ; while others refer its etymo- 
logy to the word Dehaka, signifying " con- 
cealed," which was given by BoUalsen to the 
temple he built in honor of Durga. Though 
Dacca is not mentioned in the Ayeen Ak- 
berry, it would appear, nevertheless, from 
the statement of the natives, to have been a 
place of considerable extent prior to the of consider. 
Moghul conquest. The tradition is, that it ppivim«roih€ 
originally consisted of 52 bazars and 53 J'^JJl;"*^^"- 
streets, and that from this circumstance, it 
obtained the long and somewhat inconvenient 
name of ** Bauno Bazar, and Teppun GuUee.'' Former 
One of these bazars called the Bengalla 
Bazar still exists, and is known, I believe, 
throughout the country, as one of the most 



name. 



92 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

ancient places of trade in Bengal. During 

tlie 16th, and the early part of the 17th 

City of Ben- ccntury, the city of Bengalla, it may be 

dSwn in^maps remarked, is frequently mentioned by Euro- 

veiiero'^inVhe pcau travcUers, and is laid down in their 

j^iuanon of jj^^pg apparently in the situation of Dacca. 

Rennel in his notice of it, states ^' in some 
ancient books and maps we meet with a con- 
siderable city called Bengalla, but no traces 
of such a place now exist. It is described as 
being near the eastern mouth of the Ganges, 
and I conceive, that the site of it has been 
carried away by the river. Bengalla appears 
to have existed during the early part of 
the past century." It is not improbable 
that " Baunoo Bazar and Teppun Gullee" was 

ideiitifjr not the city that is here alluded to, and that the 
name of Bengalla, by which one of its many 
bazars was known, was applied by Europeans, 
to the whole town, from the circumstance, 
perhaps, of this bazar being the place, in 
which trade was then chiefly carried on with 
foreigners. What tends to confirm this opini- 
on of the identity of Dacca and Bengalla, is 
the circumstance that only one of them is ever 

Coo6rmed mentioned by the same traveller. Methold 
by (raveiierfl. ^^ enumerating the principal cities of Bengal 

for instance, mentions R^mahl and Bengalla, 
which he designates " faire citie^n," while 
Herbert and Mandelso* who trai^lled about 

• 

* The Editor of the East Indian Chronologiat mentionR, that he 
ponesses a Map by Mandelso in which Beug^uila is laid down as a 
large ci>y which is also in furor of the supposition of Beof^aila and 
Dacca beiuif the saute place : for the former is not mentioned in his 
'book. ** The principal ciliea being Rajmabl, Dacca or Kaka Phillipalan 
ami Satigau," 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 93 

the same period, specify Dacca and Rajmahl, TheduppoKi. 

_ - • /• T» 11 T^ tlqii of Ueuiiell 

but make no mention ot jDengalla. it may improbable. 
further be remarked, that the opinion of this 
city having been carried away by the river, 
is not supported by any tradition in this part 
of the country . The natives, who are well 
acquainted with the sites of the ancient places 
of note in the district, and of the changes 
occasioned by the inroads of the rivers, men- 
tion two cities called Serripore and Kotesur 
as having been thus destroyed, but of the 
existence of Bengalla, they have never heard, 
a circumstance that tends to support the 
opinion, that the name was originally used by 
foreign traders instead of '^ Bauno Bazar and 
Teppun GuUee," or of Dhaka, which latter 
appellation appears to have been exclusively 
applied to the western quarter of the town in 
the vicinity of " Dehaka Serry." Bengalla 
is described by Vertomannus in the year 1503 <>fBeu^luaVy 
as a place " that in fruitfulness and plenti- *'*^''"»*"n««. 
fulness of all kinds may in manner contend 
with any city in the world." " The region," 
he further says, '' is so plentiful in all things, 
that there lacketh nothing that may serve to 
the necessary uses or pleasures of men, for 
there are, in manner, all sorts of beasts, and 
wholesome fruits, and plenty of corn, spices 
also in alUAorts. Likewise of hombasin and 
silks so exceeding great abundance, that in 
all these things I think there is none other 
region comparable to this." Rajah Man Sing 
after defeating the Afghans at Serripore in the 
pergunnah of Attyah, is said to have encamp- 



94 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

ed at Dacca, in that quarter of the town in the 
vicinity of Dehaka Serry, which is known by 
the name of Ordhoo, and to have conducted 
the affairs of the government here for some 
Becomefi a time. It was not however until between the 

ponlo^aboTt years 1608 and 1612, that Dacca became a 
place of any political importance.. Prior tQ 
that time, Sunergong was the capital of the 
Moghul provincial administration, but to 
check the aggressions of the Afghans and 
Seat of Go- Mughs, Islam Khan now transferred the seat 

tranXrred to of govcmmcnt from Rajmahl to Dacca. Here, 
T*Fort he erected a fort, and increased the Nowarrah 

erected. ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ artillery, which had been esta- 

blished in the time of Ackber : and in honor 

Name of Dae. of the rciguing Empcror, changed the name 

aa cbaoffed. 

of the place to Jehangirenuggur.* The fort, 
no vestiges of which now exist, occupied the 
sites of the present Jail, Cotwallee, and adjoin- 
ing Hospitals, and enclosed within its walls, 
the Nawaub's palace and gardens, the Courts 
ere^c?idb7the of Justlcc aud thc Mint. The principal pub- 
^*r11?n»**°^^ lie buildings erected by succeeding Viceroys, 
KiItMi^'* and now in ruins, are the great Kuttra and 

the Lall Bang. The former was built by 
directions of Sultan Mohammed Shujah in 
1645, It is situated about half a mile to the 
eastward of the Lall Bang, in front of the 
Chouk, and fills up a considerable portion of 
^^De«:riptioii ^j^^ spacc bctwecn that square arid the river. 

It presented on the side next to the Boorigon- 
ga, an extensive front having a lofty central 

• Accordioir to Gladwio, it was called Jehaogirabad. Vide Glad, 
wiu'tf Life ofJebanifirc. 



/ ^ 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 95 

gateway, flanked by smaller entrances, and by 

two octagonal towers, which rose to some 

height above the body of the building. There Ancient 

were formerly in front of the Kuttra, two uL?" remaU" 

very large guns, which were made and placed 

there, it is said, in the time of Meer Jumla. 

One of them (the largest of the two,) was 

planted upon a small island in the middle of 

the river, and sank some years ago. The 

other, which stood at the Sowaree Ghaut, or 

landing place of the Nawaubs, was dragged 

up to its present site, in the centre of the 

Chouk in 1828. It is made of hammered 

iron, and its weight is estimated at 64,814 

pounds. The palace of the Lall Baug was ^^^^ ^^^ 

commenced in 1678 by Sultan Mohammed ^«"« 

Azim, the third son of the Emperor Aureng* 

zebe, and was left by him in an unfinished 

state to Ameer Al Omtrah Shaista Khan his 

successor in the government. It was built in 

a quadrangular form, and enclosed ground to n„cripiio« 

the extent of several beegahs. It originally °'^**- 

stood close to the Boorigonga, but there 

is now an intervening space between it 

and the river, which is covered with huts 

and trees, that greatly obstruct the view 

of it from this quarter. Its walls on the 

western side^ and the terrace and battlement 

towards the river, are of a considerable height 

and present a commanding aspect from 

the water. These outworks, with a few of its 

gateways, the audience hall, and the baths, 

are the only parts of the building that now 

remain, ^md though in a sadly dilapidated 






96 TOPOGPAPHY OF DACCA. 

State and rapidly mouldering into decay, they 
iJted *' ^^^' ^*^^^ shew the extensive and magnificent scale, 

on which this princely residence was origi- 
^ ***'"** Khan nally designed. Shaista Khan appears never 

creels a Muu- •' ^ *^^ 

•uieam wiihiu jq jj^ve complctcd this structure. When Ta^ 
vernier visited Dacca about the year 1666, 
this Nawaub was residing in a temporary 
wooden building, in its Court. He afterwards 
erected within its walls, a Mausoleum to the 
memory of his daughter Beebee Peeree, the 
wife of Sultan Mohammed Azim. The inner 
apartment of this structure containing the 
DeicriptioD tomb, is built of Marble and Chunar stone, 

^ ' and is surmounted with a fine dome ; and the 

passage surrounding it, is divided into com- 
partments embellished with Mosaics. Most 
of its decorations however, together with the 
aqueducts that supplied its fountains, have 
long since been destroyed. The other build-* 

TheHnieKuu iugs of uotc are the little Kuttra, the Pooshta 

Ira. , 

residence, and several mosques in different 

parts of the town. The first of these was 

erected by Shaista Khan in 1 663, and is still 

the property of his descendants. Of ^the 

Pooshta residence the greater part has been 

ThcPooRhta carried away by the river, within the last 

troytd"by iliT twcuty ycars, and there is now only a small 

"''*'■• portion of it standing. It appears to have been 

By whom built bv Priucc Azim Ooshaun, who was resid- 

ing here, it may be remarked, at the time that 

Moorshud Kooli Khan, while on his way to 

pay him a visit, was assailed by Abdal Va- 

hid. Ferokeshere, the last Viceroy, and the 

last Moghul prince that ever visited Dacca, 



»^. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 97 

occupied this residence also, and built, in its 
vicinity and close to the walls of the Lall 
Bang, a large mosque, the walls of which are 
only now standing. There are several other several 

1 • • 1 • 1 1 'ix other ralQouB 

large mosques now m rums, which were built mosques. 

by Shaista Khan, and Morshud Kooli Khan. 

On the opposite side of the river, there is 

an old building surrounded by a moat, which 

is said to have been built by the Nawaub 

Ibrahim Khan, and in the vicinity of the 

town there are several bridges, and subter- Brid^ren in 

raneous baths and wells. Of the former, the Jh^fo'^ii-on-of 

' the town. 

Fagla Pool, and Tungy bridge, built upon the 

old military roads leading to the fort at Haje- 

gunge on the Luckia, and to the Berhampoo* 

ter, are the principal, especially the first of 

these, which is much admired as a ruin. 

The English Factory appears to have been x^^ Engiwh 

built about the year 1666, when Indian mus- l^^^l **«•» 

lins were first indroduced into England. 

Tavernier alludes to it at this date, and 

mentions the name of the chief. The central 

part of the building was occupied as a Cut- 

<^herry for some time, but falling into a state of 

ruin, it was pulled down about ten years ago, 

and the only portion of the building that now 

*» 

xemains, is the outer wall. The French Fac- The French 
tory, an extensive building on the bank of the c^Jerfed X7o 
river, has lately been repaired^ and converted uo^'h^l^^*'* 
into a dwelling house, which is now occupied 
by a native gentleman. Of the Dutch Fac- j,^^ 
lory, there are no traces existing, except the Fuciory. 
walled terrace, on which it stood. The City, 
in the time of the Moghul Government, was 

N 



98 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

under the jurisdiction of a Foujdar and siiC 
Police E^ta- Aumeeus. The Police consisted of these 

blitthoient dor- 

inK the Mo. Officers with 80 peons and paiks, 50 horse- 

ghul OoverO' -^ * 

meuu men and 50 burkindazes : they had 52 Cha- 

bootras, (several of which are the present 
police stations), assigned for their residence, 
and were paid chiefly by grants of land. 

tion." orticer Bcsldcs the Adawlut and Foujdaree Courts, 

!!hu dJur*" there was an Officer called Ittysub, who exer- 
cised a good deal of authority in the City. 
Like the "Dean of Guild" in some parts of 
Britain, he had the superintendence of weights 
and measures, settled disputes occurring in the 
market places, and imposed fines ; and also 
inflicted corporal punishment on offenders. 
^i!**" ^??" The other Officers, besides the Nawaub and 

extended be- Dewau, whosc authority extended beyond the 

yond the city. ' j j 

City, were the Cazi, Canangoe and Wakana- 

Tjbe ^duiieg ghar. The duty of the latter was to report 

naghar. daily to the Emperor, all that occurred^ in the 

the public departments of the Neabut, and 
to superintend the transmission of dispatches 
and official correspondence to the seat of 
Public E*- Government. The public establishments were 
The Now- the Nowarrah or fleet, the Tope-kannah or 
*"rhe Tope. Artillery, and the Mint. The former com- 
ThVMirtt. prised upwards of 700 war boats, and also 
State boats a uumber of state barges for the use of the 
tothcEmpcror. Vlccroys. Two vcssels magnificently fitted 
up, were annually dispatched to the Emperor 
at Agra, but subsequently, when the Moghul 
Government declined in vigour, and the Na- 
waubs of Bengal became virtually indepen- 
dent, these state boats, though avowedly sent 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA* 99 

for the use of his Majesty, never reached 
higher than Moorshedabad. 

Narraingunffe. This town, next to Dacca^ Naraingunge. 
is the largest one in the district. It is situ- '«» «iuatioa 

^ , aud extent 

ated on the western bank of the Luckia, at 
its confluence with the Issamutty, and con- 
sists of three divisions or bazars^ which ex- 
tend to a distant of three miles along the 
river. It enjoys a free communication by Ri/cr com- 



rounicatioiit 



Its (nde. 



water with Calcutta, Sylhet, Chittagong, &c. wiih different 
throughout the year, and with Assam (via 
Mymensing) during the rains. It may be 
called the port of Dacca, from which it is 
distant about eight miles by land, and twelve , Dwunce 

" .^ ' from Dacca. 

by water. It is a great mart for salt, oil 
seeds, grain, sugar, ghee, tobacco, metals, 
timber, lime, &c., and a depot for boats and 
boatmen engaged in the inland trade. The 
quantity of salt annually imported from Chit- 
tagong and BuUoah amounts to 500,000 
maunds, and the number of sloops employed 
in the trade is about one hundred and sixty. 
Mughs and people from the eastern coast 
below Arracan, including a few Chinese, visit 
Naraingunge during the north-east monsoon ; 
they purchase betel-nuts, sugar, tobacco and 
different kinds of manufactures in exchange 
for catechu, cotton, arsenic, round pepper, 
gold and silver. The population, according Population 
to a census taken in 1838, amounted to 6,252, 
three-fifths of whom were Hindoos, who, to- 
gether with a few Greeks, are the persons sole- 
ly engaged in the salt trade. This place has 



100 



TdPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 



Trade of late 
greatly dimi- 
nifthed and 
tranaferred to 
Serajeguogc* 



Koddom 
BooasooL 



Blckniu- 
pore. 



declined considerably within the last thirty 
years, and a great portion of its former trade 
appears to be now transferred to Serajegunge, 
which, since the widening of the Jenai, has 
become the largest mart for country produce 
in this part of Bengal. In the vicinity of 
Naraingunge, are situated the several forts 
built by Meer Jumla, and almost opposite to 
it, stands Kuddom Roossool, a place of some 
antiquity, it is said, and one that is in great 
repute among pious Mussulmauns in this part 
of the country. The stone with the impres- 
sion of the prophet's foot upon it, is kept in a 
small mosque surrounded by the huts of 
Fakirs,^ who live on charity bestowed by the 
pilgrims who come to worship this relic. The 
approach from the river is by a flight of steps 
leading to a lofty gateway, which is a conspi 
cuous object from the Luckia. (^ 



Sitoation aod 
boundaries. 



Its fertility 
and prodoc- 
tifsaeaa. 



Bickrampore. — ^This pergunnah is situated 
about 12 miles to the south of the city, 
between the Issamutty and Megna on the 
east, and the Ganges on the west : on the 
south it is bounded by the river Kirtinessa ; 
and on the north by the pergunnah of 
Jellalpore. It is one of the most fertile sub- 
divisions of the district, producing rice, su- 
gar, cotton, saflBiower, betel and cocoa-nuts, 
limes, and a variety of fruits and vegetables, 
with which the Bazars in the city are chiefly 
supplied. The greater part of this tract, on 
its eastern side, consists of Bheetee or artifici- 
ally raised land, thickly covered with gardens, 




TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 101 

and intersected by narrow creeks and tanks, 
while on its western side it is low, and contains 
a moras6 of about 15 miles in circumference, 
covered with reed jungle, and partially filled 
with water throughout the year. It is densely J^l^^^llJ^"^ 
inhabited, and almost entirely by Hindoos, the JIJJJJ'^**^^"'''- 
greater proportion of whom are Brahmins. 
Bickrampore is celebrated, as the ancient ca- The ancient 
pital of the Kingdom of Bongoz, and the prin- icTgdom of* 
cipal residence of the Kings of Bengal, from '*"^'''' 
the time of Bikramadit down to the overthrow 
of their Government by the Mussulmauns. 
The place, where the Hindoo Princes resided, 
is still pointed out by the natives. It is called 
Rampal, and lies inland about three miles from Rampai, the 
the Issamutty, and a little to the west of Ferin- HiiidooPrUices 
sybslzar. The site of Bollal Baree, (the palace „The nUe ot 
of BoUalsen), consists of a mound of earth of a 
quadrangular shape : it covers an area of about 
3,000 square feet, and is surrounded by a moat 
about 200 feet wide, with a road or bund con- 
necting it with the mainland on its eastern 
side.* There are no traces of buildings within iintti vicinity, 
this enclosed space, butm its vicinity, and m ofwaiu roand 

at a ffreat 

the country around to the distance of many depth. 

miles, mounds of bricks, and the foundations 

of walls at a great depth below the surface are 

met with, and have supplied^ materials for 

building, in the city for many years past. Near 

Bollal Baree, there is a deep excavation called 

" Agnikunda'' where, it is said, the last AgDikoDda. 



* A few yearg ago, a ryott while ploughing a field In this place 
found a diamond of the Taloe of Rs. 70,000 (£7,000), it afterwards gave 
ri«e to a law suit before the Provincial Coari of Appeal. 



102 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Agiiikunda. Hindoo Prince of Bickrampore and his family^ 
burned themselves, on the approach of the 
Mussulmauns. Tradition states, that the 
Rajah, when he went out to meet the invaders 
of his territory, carried with him a messenger 
pigeon, whose return to the palace was to be 
regarded by his family as an intimation of his 
defeat, and a signal, therefore, to put them* 
selves to death. He gained the victory, it ap- 
pears, but unfortunately, while he was stooping 
to drink from the river, after the fatigues of 
the day, the bird escaped from the part of his 
dress, in which it was concealed, and flew to 

The laot Hin. its dcstinatiou. The Rajah hurried home ; but 

Hoo Prince of , . . . _ 

Bicicrampore, amvmg too latc to avcrt the consequences of 
self Ind^fanluy this uuhappy accidcut, he cast himself upon 
pue. ^ "°^" the funeral pile, still smoking with the ashes 

of his family, and thus closed the reign of the 
last dynasty of Hindoo Princes in this part of 
India. In the centre of Bollal Baree, there is 
a tank called " Meetha Pukhar," in which the 
remains of the Rajah and his family are said 
to have been deposited. It is regarded as a 
place of great sanctity by the Hindoos in the 
neighbourhood, who carefully abstain from 
using its water, or removing the soil from its 
banks. Within a couple of miles of Bollal 
Tomb and B^rce, staud the tomb and mosque of Pir 
mrnqoe of Pir Adam, tho Mussulmauu Cazi, who first 
Description govcrncd here. The latter is a tolerably large 
of the nioaque. bujidiiig ; thc roof is supportcd by stone pil- 
lars, which display a good deal of arabesque 
and ornamental work, forming in this respect 
a striking contrast to the plain and unadorned 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 103 

tomb in its vicinity. Both buildings are kept 
in repair by the few Mussulmaun families in 
the neighbourhood, by whom they are regard- 
ed with as much veneration, as the Mee- 
tha Pukhar is by the Hindoos about Bollal 
Baree. There are a few other places of 
note within this pergunnah. At Keddar- Keddarpore. 
pore there are the remains of a resi- 
dence, which is said to have belonged to a 
Rajah of the name of Chonderoy, of the race 
of the Booneahs, who appear to have ex- 
tended their authority to several parts of 
the country, west and south of the Boori- 
gonga, during the decline of the Kingdom of 
Bongoz. This place, which is now a heap of 
bricks, is of considerable extent, but it is so 
overgrown with jungle, and infested with 
snakes, that its outline cannot be ascertained. 
The mutt of Rajabaree, which forms aeon- The matt of 

Rajabaree. 

spicuous landmark from the Ganges and 
Megna, is said to have been erected by this 
Rajah. Feringy bazar, situated upon the Feringry. 
Issamutty, was originally inhabited by Por- \y inhabifed by 
tuguese. They settled here during the Go- ***^*"8^°**^* 
vernment of Shaista Khan in 1663, and con- 
sisted chiefly of persons who had deserted 
from the Rajah of Arracan to Hussein Beg, 
the Moghul officer then beseiging Chittagong. 
It was once a place of considerable size, but 
since the decline of trade, it has dwindled 
down to a village, still containing however in 
the midst of its huts a few large brick houses. 
Idrackpore, which also stands upon the bank . Wfackpore, 
of the Issamutty, lies about three miles to 



104 TOPOGEAPHY OF DACCA; 

the south of Feringy bazar. There is, hercy 
a circular fort built by Meet Jumla, and se- 
veral brick buildings and ghauts, where pro- 
bably the Shabunder duties of Bickrampore 
were formerly collected. Idrackpore is cele- 
A fair held bratcd for a Barnee or fair, which is held ia 

here in the i/»y-vi -r • /•! 

month of oc. thc uionth of October. It continues for about 
a fortnight, and is attended by people from 
all the eastern districts, as well as by a few 
merchants from the Upper Provinces and 
lu trade. Calcutta. The articles of merchandize con- 
sist chiefly of cloths, cotton, carpets, blankets, 
catechu, wax, sappan wood, spices, drugs, 
dyes, iron, brass and copper utensils, and 
agricultural and other implements. The 

turw*"'*'^^' principal manufactures in Bickrampore are 
coarse cotton cloths, sackcloth, paper, and 
seetul patee mats. 

Rajanajrhor, Rojanaghur. — ^This pergunnah, which ranks 
tsaicuatioo, j^^^i ^q Bickramporc in fertility and extent 

of population, lies to the south of the Kirti- 
nessa river, and between the Megna and the 
original channel of the Ganges. It is on a 
lower level than the eastern part of Bickram- 
pore, and within the last sixty years, has 
been much encroached upon by the Kirti- 
nessa, in the bed of which, several extensive 
alluvial tracts have been formed, that are 
now in the possession of Government. Its 
And produo. principal products are rice, betel and cocoa- 
***"' nuts, sugar and indigo, also til and mustard 

seed, khessaree and moong grains. From 
the wide channels of the rivers here, the 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 10& 

country, in ordinary seasons of inundation, is 
covered to a less depth of water than lands 
situated farther inland. In general it suffers Country mif. 
more from the prevalence of strong southerly i^'whiy^and 
winds, or the occurrence of gales in May 
and June, by which the lands are inundated, 
and the crops, especially that of indigo, are 
frequently seriously damaged thus early in 
the season. This part of the country suffered 
greatly however during the high inundation inondaiioa 
of 1787. There is a considerable number of ®^ ^^®^' 
Mussulmauns in Rajanaghur, and a large 
proportion of its Hindoo inhabitants belongs 
to the Bhaide caste. This pergunnah formed This Pcrjrun. 
a portion of the extensive and valuable Ze- portion or the 
mindaree of Rajah Rajbullub, the deputy of Rajah R«jbuu 
Nowazish Khan, the Dewan and Naib of the 
eastern districts of Bengal. The property 
originally consisted of 400 Talooks, and in 
the year 1790 paid a revenue to Government 
of about three la.cs of Rupees, two-thirds of 
which were derived from the Talooks, and the 
remaining third from the '^ Neez" lands in 
the possession of the Zemindar. The Estate Estate divid. 
was afterwards divided among the five sons ^ons^^wd he. 
of Rajbullub and became an object of family ^Toobk'^to 
contention, and a source of great trouble to q^c^J^^'*""® 
the revenue officers of the district, up to the 
time of the permanent settlement. The vil- 
lage of Rajanaghur, the residence of the 
Rajah's descendants, is situated upon the 
banks of a creek of that name not far from 
the thannah of Molfutgunge. There are two 
very fine mutts with lofty spires, and the 

o 



106 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

remains of several buildings which formed 
the Rajah's residence. The principal mutt 
was erected by Rajbullub in 1744, and the 
other by one of his sons in 1774. 

rartickpore, Cartickpore — Is situated to the south of 
Rajanaghur, and is the pergunnah adjoining 
the district of Backergunge. In its physical 
aspect and the nature of its productions, it is 
closely allied to Rajanaghur, and does not, 
therefore, require to be particularly described. 

sunergong. SunergoHg — Is a pergunnah of considera- 
indtroduc" 1>1® size bctwecn the Luckia and Megna, in the 
tiooi, northern division of the district. Its agricul- 

tural products are rice, cotton, turmeric, gin- 
ger, betel-nuts, and betel or paun leaf, for 
The princi. which it is Celebrated. The principal villages 
thipergnnuahf ^^0 Paiuam, Nagulbuud, Baroodee, Kadooa, 
and Moraparrah. Painam is the ancient city 
Painam, ^^ Suucrgoug, the HaviUce Sunergong of the 
early Mussulmaun rulers of this part of the 
itg RiiuatioD, country. It is situated about two miles inland 
^"'ih'nret.^and ^^^^ *^^ Bcrhampootcr creek, in a grove of 
bamboo thick, ^rcca, tamarind, mango, and various other 
trees, interspersed with dense thickets of 
bamboos, which completely conceal the village 
from view until within a few yards of it. This 
sequestered spot is approached in the dry sea- 
son by narrow winding foot paths, but during 
the rains it is partially inundated, and is 
almost inaccessible except by small boats, or 
' to a person on an elephant or horse. Painam 
at this latter season is surrounded by nume- 



TOPOGRAPH* OP DACCA. 107 

rous stagnant creeks and ponds, and by a vege- Paioam. 
tation, rank and luxuriant in the extreme. 
From the thick foliage of the trees which ex- 
clude the sun's rays, the village at this time 
presents a most gloomy aspect, and in the 
sickly emaciated appearance of its inhabi- 
tants, it certainly realizes the character, 
so generally ascribed to it, of its being one of 
the most unhealthy places in the district. It i^* anheQitbi. 

QMS. 

consists of two narrow streets of straw huts, 
and good brick built houses of two and three 
stories in height. Surrounding it, there is a Sarrounded 
deep muddy and stagnant canal, which ap- 
pears to have originally been a moat for its 
protection. Upon an old bridge across this 
ditch, (the only avenue leading to the village) 
are the remains of a gateway, which, in former 
times when there was more wealth in the 
place than at present, was shut every night, 
and no person was allowed either to enter or 
leave the town, until the following morning. In 
the immediate vicinity of Painam there are 
several mosques and buildings in ruins, which RoinoM 
in all probability constituted the place of resi- bu^drngV"in 
dence of the early Mussulmaun Governors. "' "*^'°**J^' 
Though not more than a mile distant from 
Painam, this spot is almost inaccessible from loacceuibie 
being buried" in the midst of dense jungle in- Jndorifej 
fested with tigers and leopards, which renders **' *' 
it unsafe for a person to approach the place, 
except he is mounted on an elephant. I have 
not had an opportunity of visiting it, but I 
have no doubt it contains buildings of histori- 
cal interest. Dr. B. Hamilton, who visited 



108 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA; 

According: to this part of the country some years ago, was 
ancicHi Saner, informed by the natives, that th« ancient Su- 

eone was car- t i i • i i xt. • 

ried away by ttcrgong had Dcen carried away by the river, 
whicMrin and moreover that it stood on the opposite side 
error. ^^ ^j^^ Mcgna. This there can be no doubt 

is a miistake. In the vicinity of Sunergong 
there have been no encroachments of the 
river, but on the contrary, an accession of soil, 
by the filling up of the Berhampooter creek, 
which was originally the main channel of that 
river. The city on the opposite side of the 
Megna, was not Sunergong, but Serripore, 
which stood in Bickrampore, and was destroy- 
ed by the Kirtinessa. Sunergong, whatever 
importance it may have formerly possessed as 
a place of trade, or as the Metropolis of the 
Never ap- castcrn part of Bengal, does not appear, from 
had'^any pre! the accouut givcu of it by Fitch in 1586, ever 
ihite^urai ^^' ^^ ^^^^ had any pretensions to architectural 
ffraadeur. graudcur, and it is probable, that even the few 
brick houses, which Painam now boasts of, 
were built at a date subsequent to the estab- 
Fitch'a dea. Hshmcut of the foreign trade by the Company. 
cripiioo. "Sinnergan," this traveller remarks, "is a 
town six leagues from Serripore, where there 
is the best and finest cloth made in all India. 
The houses here, as they be in most parts of 
India, are very little and covered with straw, 
and have a few mats round about the walls, 
and the door, to keep out the tigers and the 
foxes. Many of the people are very rich. 
Here they will eat no flesh, nor kill no beast. 
Their mode They Hvc ou Hcc, milk and fruits. They go 

of Jiving and ^^^ ^ ^M^ ^j^^j^ ^^f^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^jj jj^^ ^^^^ 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 109 

of the body is naked." In the year 1279, the 
Emperor Balin arrived at Sunergong in pur- The Emperor 
suit of Toghril, the rebel Governor of the pro- the '"ca" ua" of 
vince, who fled to Tipperah. It was made at ^^"^ p'^"'^'"**- 
this time the capital of the eastern provincial 
Government, and at a subsequent period it 
became the residence of the first independent 
Kings of Bengal. Gyas Addeen, the son of 
Sultan Sekunder Sha, made his escape from 
Pundua to Sunergong, and collecting troops 
advanced to oppose his father. They met at 
Gualparah near the junction of the Ganges 
and the Jenai, in the vicinity of Jaffergunge, 
and in the battle that ensued, Sultan Sekun- 
der was slain. His tomb and several mosques 
were to be seen at Gualparah not many years 
ago, but the river has since swept them all 
away. The celebrated Shere Sha, the first . shere sha 

*^ ^ w said lo have 

Afghan King of Bengal, appears also to have *>°»'^ serain at 
resided here, and is said to have built a Serai ^'o»" thi* place 
at every stage, and to have dug a well at the 
end of every two miles from this place to the 
Nilab, a branch of the Indus, a distance of 
3,000 miles. Not far from Painam is the vil- 
lage of Nagulbund and Panchomoy Ghaut, Naguibund. 
which is celebrated, on account of a great 
Hindoo festival, that is held here in the month a Great Fair 

held here ia 

of March. On this occasion the Hindoos of March. 
this, and the contiguous districts assemble fre- 
quently to the number of 50,000 to bathe in 
the Berhampooter creek ; Merchants, taking 
advantage of this concourse of persons, 
bring their goods for sale, a fair is held, 
which like that of Idrackpore, continues for 



IJO TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Population several days. The population of this Pergun- 
doosandi^QB. nah consists 01 Hindoos and Mussulmauns m 
nearly equal about equal numbcrs. The weaving of mus- 
^llpatfoQ ^*^ lins is the chief occupation of the inhabitants, 
weavii»g, ^^^ which Suncrgoug still maintains the repu- 
tation it enjoyed in the time of Abul Fazel 
and Fitch. A great proportion of the weavers 
are Mussulmauns, who are engaged in manu- 
facturing the Jamdanee or flowered fabrics, a 
considerable quantity of which is annually 
exported to different parts of the country. 

Bhowai. Bhawah — ^The name of Bhowal is given to 

itB BitaatioD. a large tract of country in the northern divi- 
sion of the district, lying to the west of the 
Luckia, and extending from the city to the 
f>f a"*^r*'*^d S^rhampooter. There is a large quantity of 
land. uncultivated land in this Pergunnah, especially 

in its northern part, where there are extensive 

forests and tracts of country, which were for- 

• 

Formerly mcrly inhabited, but which are now overrun 

caitivated ^-^^^ junglc. The Scylc rice, mustard, sesa- 

Airricuitorai mum, cottou, and several kinds of vegetables 

and fruits, of which pine apples, and guavas, 

form a large portion, are among its chief agri- 

Diatancefroni Cultural products. The village of Bhowal, or 

ter^i/habiu Nagaree, is distant about one day's journey by 

native *^chritfu Water from Dacca. It consists of about 500 

•"■* houses, which are almost entirely inhabited by 

native Christians of Portuguese descent. There 

is here a Roman Catholic Church, to which 

The iohabi. Bhowal and a number of the surrounding 

taots of the i i i • • rw 

sorroandinff VlUagCS bcloUg, thC Whole COUStltUtmg a liOr 

tame penaa- miudaree of considerable extent and value* 

tioa. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. Ill 

The number of Christians on this and the 
neighbouring estates is estimated at 5000. '^^^ »»«»- 
A portion of the population of this part of the Population 
country consists of low caste Hindoos, as of the country 

•^ , generaWy loir 

Chandals, the maiority of whom, iudging caste Hiodooa 

1 , 1. 1 . , «nd?cry poor. 

from the wretched appearance of their huts, 
are miserably poor and destitute. They gain Tbeir occa. 
a livelihood chiefly by cutting firewood, tim- 
ber, and grass for thatching. Antibole, a 
town that stood on the banks of the Berham- 
pooter, and which is mentioned by Ptolemy, The %ncient 
appears to have derived its name from pioiemy! ** 
Bhowal, or probably from it, and the word 
Attya, (the name of a neighbouring tract of 
country,) prefixed to it, — thus forming the 
word Atty-bowal, which makes a near ap- 
proach to that used by the ancient geographer. 
This place, it would appear, was also known 
by the name of Antomela, and in the Sanscrit aim known 
that of Hattimalla or Hattiband, from the Antomet!!!^^ 
Rajah's elephants being picketted there. It 
was situated, Wilford conjectures, at Feringy- 
bazar, but it is more probable, I think, that 
Akdalla, at the junction of the Banar and 
Luckia, was its site, not only from the cir- 
cumstance of this place being included in 
Bhowal, and being situated on a branch of 
the Berhampooter, but also from there being 
a spot there which is still known by the name 
of Hattiband, and which is said by the natives 
to have been the place where the elephants of 
the Rajahs iu former times were kept. The DeacHptioa 
country about Akdalla rises into hilly ridges, arouod AUaiu 
intersected by small ravines, the sides of 



112 TOPOGRAPHY OF PACCA. 

which are covered with brushwood jungle. 
The soil. Tjjg g^ji consists of red kunkur, and below, of 

beds of clay with more or less alluvial deposit 

in its composition. In addition to the crops 

common to Bhowal, there is here a consider- 

indigo and able Cultivation of indigo and also a coffee 

Coffee cnlii- ^ 

viitedin con- plantation. .The fort of Akdalla or Yekdalla 

siderublo * 

quautities. IS frequently mentioned in the history of the 

independent Kings of Bengal, but of its site, 

.or of the remains of. any place of military 

No trace of dcfeucc hcrc, there are no traces existing at 

the Fort of ' ® 

Akdalla. prcscut, aud it is likely therefore that the 
fort mentioned by this name is one, that is 
situated about eight miles above Akdalla on 
the eastern bank of the Banar at a place 
called Doordooreah, in Capassia. 

c«pRwiaai. Capassia — Is a sub-division of Bhowal, 
banks of the which compriscs a considerable tract of coun- 
try on the banks of the Banar. It derives 
its name from the word "Kapass" cotton, 
and was the part of the country in which this 
article, was chiefly cultivated, and where 
Celebrated the finest musUns were woven in former times. 

for ita fine cot- i.. •ii-i* 

ton aod mus. It had bccn distinguished by its present name 
from time immemorial, and it contains places 
Its aDtiqui. apparently of the highest antiquity in this 
*^' part of the country. At one of these locali- 

ties, known in the present day by the name 
of Doordooreah, and situated upon the banks 
of the Banar, about eight miles above Ak- 
Theremaina ^^\\^ ^rc to be sccu the rcmaius of a fort, 

or a rort on 

the banka of g^^j oDDOsite to it, thc fouudatious of a town, 

the Banar and n ' 

oppoMte to it \^oj\i of which, it is said, were built and 

a town. 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 113 

occupied by the Booneah Rajahs. The river width orib« 
here is about 300 yards wide, and in some 
places more than 40 feet deep. Its banks its banks, 
consist of the red kunkur soil, and rise 
abruptly from the water's edge to a height 
of about 50 feet, (when the river is at its 
lowest level), presenting in many places the 
appearances of a solid wall of masonry. 
The fort is laid out apparently in the figure Form of the 
of a crescent bounded by the river. The 
outer Wall is composed of red earth inter- 
mixed with clay, and at present is not more 
than 12 or 14 feet high. It is upwards of its circam. 
two miled in circuit, and is surrounded by a 
moat about 30 feet broad, which is now in a 
irreat measure filled up with earth, that has Moatoeari/ 
been washed down from the wall and adjacent earth: 
ground. There are five openings or entrances Entrances into 
into the fort, but no traces of brick or stone 
built gateways are visible. At some distance 
within this rampart, there are traces of a 
second defence of a similar construction, and coDBiruetion 
still farther on, we come to the remains of a ramparts simi. 
brick built wall, the extent and figure of "' 
which are distinctly marked out by a ridge 
of earth and loose bricks, and by a portion 
of the foundations of the wall itself. Like 
the outworks, it forms the segment of a cir- 
cle, surrounded by a ditch communicating 
with the river, which latter part corresponds 
to the chord of tho arc, and measures about 
300 yards in length. This enclosure or 
citadel as it appears to have been, has three The cUadei. 
openings into it, and contains two sites of 

p 



site 



114 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

buildings, which are somewhat elevated and 
stand close upon the bank of the river. The 

The Southern southcm Site cousists of a circular mound of 
bricks, and appears to have been that of a 
tower, surrounded by a wall with four bas- 
tions, the foundations of which are still visi- 

TbeNorthern \^\q^ fhe figure of the northcm site is not so 
well defined ; it has two elevated places of 
a square figure and beyond this a tank that 
communicated by a canal, that is still visible, 
with the moat exterior to the citadel waH. 
The surface of the ground between the differ- 
. ent walls is covered with mounds of earth and 
bricks, interspersed with well defined hol- 
lows, which appear ' to have been tanks. 
Loose bricks also are scattered over the sur- 
face and occur in heaps on the bank of the 
river. A considerable portion of the buildings 
GreAt por- appears to have been carried ^ away by the 

tion carried . i*i« •!! .1 *• ^-l 

away by the rivcr, which IS said by the natives to have 

been very narrow in former times. Of the 

' vettiifoi of city on the opposite side of the river, the 
ti»e ciiy. ^^jy. yggt jggg jj^^ existiug are mounds and 

loose bricks scattered over the surface of the 
plain. It appears to have covered a consi- 
derable extent of ground ; about two miles 
inland, there are two magnificent tanks which 
are said to have been dug by the Booneah 
Rajahs: they are of great depth, and in 
all probability are supplied by springs. 
The Mte of The site of the Court (or Cutcherry as it is 

the Booneah ^ ^ 

Kajuh'a Cut- called), of thcsc Chicfs is pointed out on the 
bank of the river, and here also are to be 
seen the foundations of a Durga and mosque^ 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA> U6 



loot 



arffu 



which were built principally of stone. The F«"nd«*» 

r sr J of a Do 

latter, which goes by the name of Shaick *°<* ^^^^^ 

Ala's mosque, was probably erected by Sultan 

Ala 'Addeen. The fort is known among the 

natives in this part of the country by the 

name of " Rannee Baree," and is said to '^^ Rannee 

Baree. 

have belonged to Rannee Babanee, who 

seems to have been the last of the line of 

Booneahs that occupied it at the time of the 

Mohammedan invasion in A. D. 1204. From 

the depth of the river, and of the moats that 

surrounded it, this fort must have been a 

place of considerable strength, and in all or conrid^nu 

probability it was the one in which Ilyas 

Shums Addeen, the second independent King 

of Bengal, was besieged by the Emperor ^^^^^^.^j^, 

Ferose in the year 1353. It is mentioned, po*«d tobare 

"^ ' been besiefced 

that during the siege, Ilyas, disguised as a ^y^^^ Emper. 
Fakier, ventured out of the Fort to attend the 
funeral of a distinguished Saint, . named 
Rajah Byabany, who lived in the vicinity. 
He afterwards rode into the camp of the Em- 
.peror, to whom he made his obeisance, but 
not being known, he was allowed to return to hir fearieM 
the garrison unmolested.* The Rajah, who ***"*'***'*• 
is here named, was in all probability a des- 
cendant of the Rannee Babanee. During the 
reign of Sekunder Sha, the son and successor hih socpeaa. 
of Ilyas, it was again besieged, but with the wiih the same 
same unsuccessful result, as on the former 
occasion, the Emperor withdrawing his army 
and concluding a peace, on the promise of an 
annual tribute being paid to him. In 1489 

• vide Slawart'B History of Bengal. 



116 Topography 6p dacca. 

Sultan Ala Addeen Hussein made it his place 

^f residence, and vras in th^ habit, it is related 

of performing once a year a pilgrimage on 

foot to Pundua, to visit the shrine of the 

Toke—iti 81- celebrated saint Kuttub Al Aalum. Toke^ 

toatioo. 

which is included in the country of Capassia, 
is situated on the eastern side of the Banar, 
where this river comes off from the Berham- 
pooter, and is distant but a few miles from 
the capital of Sessoo Pal. This latter place 
lies inland in the heart of the jungle, and lik^ 
the town at Doordooreah, it consists of 
mounds of bricks and earth with a fine tank 
in the vicinity. The natives believe that 
Trcawrcfop. thcrc is a Valuable treasure dei>osited in this 

posed to be » i i 

buried here, spot, but they are deterred by the dread of 
snakes from searching for it. Sessoo Pal's 
Baree is surrounded with dense jungle, in- 

^^^™^j8r'^«n fested with tigers and leopards. Toke ap- 

cient Geogra. pears to bc the Tugma of Ptolemy, the Tauke 
of El Edrissi, the Tafek of the Mohammedan 
travellers of the 9th century. Wilford con- 
siders Tugma to be identical with Antibole 
which h£^s already been mentioned, he places 
at Feringy Bazar, in Bickrampore. D'Anville, 
on the other hand, has placed Tugma north 
of a range of hills corresponding to the Tip- 
Theauihort pcrah hills. Toke or Tugma was in all pro- 

•pmion. j[)ability the port of Sessoo Pal's country, and 
from its advantageous situation on the bank 
of the Berhampooter, was in former times no 
doubt a place of considerable trade. The 
country about it, is high, but is now a good 
deal overrun with jungle. The village is of 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 117 

considerable size, and is a mart for timber, 
which is felled in the neighbouring forest, and 
floated down the Banar from this place, in * 
the rainy season. There is a weekly market ^ wwUy 

"^ ^ market held. 

held here which is well attended by the 
Koonch and Rajbunsi, who bring cotton, deer's 
horns, &c. for sale or barter. Cowries supply 
the place of a copper currency, which is a 
proof of the cheapness of all the necessaries 
of life in this part of the country. Sabar and sgbar and 
Dumroy. These places, which are only a '^"™'*y- 
few miles distant from each other, are situa- 
ted in the northern division of the district, 
and to the west of the city. The former, 
which stands on the northern bank of the s**»»*i<»- 
Boorigonga, was the capital of the Booneah 
Rajah Horischunder. His residence called 
Cotebaree, like that of Sessoo Pal in Capassia, 
and of Jush Pal at Madhupore, now forms a 
heap of bricks and earth overgrown with 
jungle. Dumroy is situated farther to the Dotoroj. 
north-west and on the Bansa river, near its 
junction with the DuUaserry. It is one of 
the principal manufacturing villages in the 
district^ Gonockpara, Ghori and Gurriapara 
are distinguished in Benners Maps as places 
of considerable size. They were the fortified 
places of residence of the Afghans, who after Afffbaat reu 
their defeat in the interior of Bengal by the pan of &• 
Moghuls, retreated to this part of the coun- 
try. A few years ago, a part of the walls 
of the latter place, with several lofty gateways 
and mosques were to be seen, but the river, 
which has greatly altered its course in this 



118 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

part of the country of late years, has swept 
them all away, aad there is now not a vestige 
of them remaining. It is commonly reported 
that Islam Khan, when he resolved on trans- 
ferring the seat of Government to this part of 
the country, selected Gonockpara for its site, 
but finding that the surrounding country was 
low, he dismantled the fort of its guns, and con- 
stituted Dacca the Metropolis. In the vicinity 
of Dumroy, there is a village called " Patan- 

Deswndanttof toUec," which is Still inhabited by the descend- 
the Afghao.. ^jjtg Qf tijg Afghans. 

Roads and Means of Communication. — 
Roadfc-two The only made roads in the district are two 

roiiieii to Na- •' /» i • i i- 

raingutifire aud in the viciuity of the city ; one leading to 
Naraingunge, the other to Tezgong and Tun- 
ghy bridge, the former about 8, and the 
latter 14 miles in length. Of the old Mili- 
tary roads, the one that is least broken up» 
though now considerably overgrown with 
jungle, is a continuation of the Tezgong road, 
which runs through the northern division of 
the district to Bermya near Toke, a distance 
of 45 miles from the city. At a little expense, 
and with the labour of the Zillah prisoners, it 
might be converted into a good passable road 
DifBcttity of throughout the year. Tlie communication by 
land between Dacca, Mymensing, and Jumal- 
pore is almost impracticable at present, and 
owing to the drying up of the lower part of 
the Berhampooter in the hot season, the jour- 
ney by water, except during the rains, is ex- 
ceedingly circuitous and tedious. If this road 



commanica 
lion. 



/ 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 119 

were repaired, the communication with these emuj ob. 
places would be open throughout the year, ^^^^' 
especially as the road from Toke is good all 
the way to Mymensing and Jumalpore. The 
distance to the former place by this route 
would be 70, and to the latter 100 miles. 
Another line of old road stretches across Bick- 
rampore from the Ganges to the Issamutty, 
and is a continuation of the road that runs 
by Talma south of the lake at Fureedpore. 
This road appears to have been made by 
Sultan Ala Addeen Hussein Sha, and extend- 
ed from Ekdalla and Sunargong to the fort 
built by him at Coolna in the Sunderbunds. 
The only other roads in the district, if in- cn» roads, 
deed they be entitled to the name, are the 
winding pathways that divide the cultivated 
fields from each other, and lead from one vil- 
lage to another. They are formed along the 
ridges that constitute the boundaries of land, 
and admit of the transportation of goods only 
by foot passengers or beasts of burthen. Wheel wheei car. 
conveyances are unknown in the country, and u^i'JwiTui*' 
the number of carts in the city probably ^^""•''y- 
does not amount to tnore than twelve. Mr. 
.Douglass, the Collector, in 1790, mentions, 
that hackeries were introduced into Dacca bv 

•^ When intro- 

a corps that arrived in the city about that time. ^^^^^ *n^<> 

' , , Dacca. 

In the northern division of the district where 
the land comparatively is high, and the creeks 
. in the interior soon dry up, the conveyance of 
goods by bullocks is generally adopted, but in ^^^^ 
the low alluvial country where the distance l^l""^ ^"^ **"'- 

•^ ^ lockn orwaler 

between a village and a river or navigable ^**^"*8«- 



120 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

creek seldom exceeds three or four miles, the 

ryotts use boats to convey their agricultural 

produce, or carry the load themselves to mar- 

Variety of tet. The " Pulwar" is the kind of boat pe- 

boats and their *■ 

DaiBea. cuUar to the district, but a variety of others as 

the " Bhadu" and " Dooree," made with 
rattan fastenings, and the " Saringa" or flat 
bottomed boat, &c. are also in common use in 
this, and the neighbouring district of Mymen- 
sing, and in the season of inundation, rafts 
constructed of plantain trees, or of earthen 
jars inverted and tied together, are also em- 
ployed by the ryotts on their farms, and as the 
means of communication between neighbour- 
ing villages. There are thirty-two Grovern- 
Ferries. mcut fcrrios with an establishment of 46 
boats and 92 boatmen upon the Ganges, Dul- 
laserry and Boorigonga, and during the dry 
season ferries are established by Zemindars 
on all the other rivers and creeks, in the vicini- 

lin^^ ''*^^^" tyofBazars and Hants. Travelling by dak be- 
tween Dacca and Calcutta is generally practi- 
Roote to cai- cable from November to June. The route is 

GQtta. 

through the stations of Fureedpore, Jessore, 
Barasett and Dum-Dum. The distance is 199 
miles ; the number of stages 22, and that of 
the ferries 20. The road to Chittagong is 
open throughout the year. From Daudkandy, 
Route from thoro is a good carriage road as far as the sta- 
comiiiah. ^ ^ tiou of ComiUah, but beyond this place, th^ 
road is bad, especially in the rainy season. 
The distance is 169 miles, and the number of 
stages 14. From the lowness of the country 
and number of j heels, travelling by land to 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 121 

Sylhet, or Backergunge, is seldom undertaken, Route to 
and IS perhaps only practicable during three kergunge. 
months in the year. The journey to Mymen- Mymewiog. 
sing is generally performed by land to Roop- 
gunge, (a village on the Luckia), from thence 
by water to Toke, and the remainder of it by 
the road that ex tends along the bank of the Ber- 
bampooter. Dacca maintains, throughout the 
Year,a free intercourse by water with most parts intcpcoamc 

by WEter with 

of the surrounding country. The route to Cal- the surround. 

1 .11 /% ^1 iog districts. 

cutta changes with the season oi the year. Different 
From November to June travellers proceed caicottT*^"^^ 
down the Boorigonga, Issamutty and Megna 
to the Rajapore or Khatijigutta creeks, which 
lead from the latter river into the Kirtinessa, 
from whence they proceed by the Nya Bagnee 
and Maluttee rivers viu Edeelpore into the 
river, on which the station of Burrisaul is 
situated. The remainder of the journey is 
ma Coolna in the Sunderbunds. Another 
route is to proceed up the Boorigonga and 
Dullaserry, round by Jaffergunge into the 
Ganges, and from thence by theChandarassee Duration of 
and Borassee rivers to Coolna. A passage ®^"^"^*- 
either way is easily accomplished, in ten days, 
in a common sized bauleah, but of the two the 
Burrisaul one is generally preferred. During 
the rainy season these routes are abandoned 
in favor of the more direct one to the creek at 
Fureedpore, which leads into the Borassia at 
Moodakolly. To Mymensing the route by the to My. 
Luckia, Banar and Berhampooter is closed for ™«»*'*"fi^* 
several months in the dry season, and boats 
are obliged to proceed by tlie circuitous pas- 

Q 



122 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 

Water route sage by the Jenai. With Chittagong, the 
g"ong. *' communication is open at all times, but it is 
only during the north-east monsoon, that the 
passage is ever attempted in pinnaces or boats 
belonging to this district. The communication 
with Sylhet is always open by the Megna ; 
and with the western provinces by the Ganges 
via Jaffergunge. 



CHAPTER V. 

Agriculture — Husbandry — Land Measures — 
Rent and Ryotts — Talookdars — Zemindars. 

Feriiiity of This distrfct in point of general fertility and 
productiveness is considered to be inferior to 
the neighbouring Zillahs of Fureedpore and 
Mymensing. It is estimated, that two-thirds 
of its area are cultivated, and of this extent 
of surface, the larger portion is situated in 
the southern division. The greater part of 
the elevated land of the northern^ division. 

Its Soil, consisting of the red kunkur soil, is unpro- 
ductive, but in the lower levels of this tract, 
viz. the dry beds of creeks, and along the 
margins of morasses, the soil consists of a 
stiff rich clay with more or less alluvial 
deposit in its composition, and produces abun- 
dant crops of rice, and on the higher ^ites 
- mustard and sesames. During the early pe- 
riod of the Moghul administration, the lands 

Lands rent- % • i A 

free. of this part of the district were let rent-freje, 

and continued to be cultivated on Jungle- 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 123 

booree tenures, until Moorshedabad became Or on jnn. 

fl^lehooree tt- 

the Capital of the province, when the oppres- uurw. 
sion and rapacity of several of the Deputy 
Naibs obliged the ryotts to desert their vil- 
lages, and to emigrate to other parts of the 
country. Elephants, beasts of prey and in- 
undations appear also to have occasioned the 
depopulation of many parts of it. It is reported 
by Mr. Kelsail, the Supervisor of Revenue, 
in 1769, that owing to the devastations com- 
mitted by elephants from the neighbouring 
jungles, the annual revenue of the estate of 
Bhowal had decreased in amount during the 

nccrcARC of 

twelve preceding years from Rs. 53,899, to Rs. the annual re- 

_ ..« . renoe of Bho- 

jo,720, and subsequently mention IS frequently ^ai and co». 

made of deductions of Government revenue on *'™'^°"^^* 

thesame account, both here, and intheadjacent 

pergunnah of Cossimpore. According to the 

tradition of the natives, it was an inundation 

of the Berhampooter, succeeded by a famine, 

that depopulated the city at DoordoOreah on 

the Banar, and a similar calamity in the 

year 1787, it is well known, produced nearly Q^^ .„„„^ 

the same effect, not only here, but in many ^Sl^'cffjcir^ 

other parts of the district. From the effects 

of this last inundation, the district suffered 

greatly, especially the southern pergunnahs 

and that portion of it lying to the north of 

the Boorigonga, where from the loss of cattle, 

and the death and desertion of ryotts, the 

lands were soon overrun with jungle, and- 

infested with tigers, rendering their subse- 

qitent cultivation a t£^k of difficulty and 

danger. Agriculture, however, has greatly 



124 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Afrricoiture extended of late years, and both in this divi- 
teuded of jate sion and throughout the district generally, 
there is certainly more land under cultivation 
at the present day, than there was at the time 
of the Company's accession to the Govern- 
ment. 



Article! of The principal articles of cultivation are rice, 
millet, oil seeds, legumes, cotton, safflower, 
indigo, sunn, Syrian and Jew's mallow, sugar 
cane, capsicums, ginger, turmeric and tobacco; 
and in gardens or fields in the immediate 
vicinity of huts, paun or betel leaf, gourds, 
cucumbers, balsam apples, pepper, several 
species of arum, pine apples, plantains, limes, 
mangoes, betel and cocoanuts. 

Annual in- The auuual inundation, to which the soil 

undation. ^ ' 

is principally indebted for its fertility, regu- 
therefromf l^tcs the sitcs of Cultivation, and in some 
measure the times of sowing and reaping. 
The levels, into which the cultivable lands 
in the southern division are naturally divided 
by it, are distinguished by different names* 
in different parts of the country, but they 
may be all reduced to the following, viz. 1st, 
Different Bheetce or artificially raised lands, the sites 

descriptious of/»i_. j % i'i_i»*x^ i 

ittud. QJ huts and gardens, on which iruit trees and 

a variety of vegetables are cultivated. 2 — 
Highlands above inundation, or only partially 
inundated, upon which cotton, sugar, &c. are 
grown. 3 — ^Inundated lands, when rice, le- 
gumes, indigo, &c. are raised. 

* Bheetee or Ryottee, Pattaree, Tattee, Nal. &c. 



/ 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 125 

Five crops of rice, designated Amoun, Chot- F«^e crop, 
na or Deega, Aoos, Bora, and Seyele, are 
raised here ; but the first, third, and fourth 
are the principal, and constitute about three- 
fourths of the whole grain cultivation of the 
district. The lowest cultivable lands are 
selected for the Amoun rice, (or Boron or win- 
ter crop.) They receive from twelve to six- 
teen ploughings from December up to Fe- 
bruary, in which month or after the first fall 
of rain, the seed is sown, though occasionally 
in seasons of great drought, this is not com- 
pleted before May. The average quantity of 
seed required for one beegah of land is 32 
seers, and the average produce is estimated 
at 16 maunds or 640 seers. The Amoun TheAmoaa 

rice, 

rice is not injured by heavy rains, except 
where the water lodges on the ground for 
five or six days, in which case it soon perishes. 
Of all the kinds of rice, the Amoun is the Rapidity of 
most rapid in its growth, frequently shooting '** s''*^^^**- 
up to the extent of 12 inches in 24 hours, as 
the inundation rises, and in the course of 
some seasons attaining a height of 14 feet. 
The greatest dangers to which it is exposed 
during the season of inundation, are a high 
and sudden rise of the rivers, by which it is 
overtopped, and the detachment of floating 
masses or fields of weeds, which are apt to 
bury it under water. It is the crop that is 
most extensively cultivated in this district, 
'and comprizes 50difierent kinds of grain ; it 
is reaped in November and December^ The ^he chot- 
Chotna or Deega rice is cultivated on lands of "JJ. J*" ^^^^* 



rice. 



rice. 



126 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Thfe chotna a level somewhat higher than the preceding. 
It is sown in April and May, and is reaped in 
September and October. Ityields^itisestimat- 
ed, about one-eighth less produce than the 
Amoun rice, and comprises only 30 kinds of 
Be. ^ ^^°" grain. The Aoos is raised upon the highest level 
of rice lands. It is sown in February, and is 
reaped in May and June, at the commence- 
. The Bora merit of the rains. The Bora or transplanted 

rice 

rice is chiefly cultivated in the northern divi- 
sion of the district, when it constitutes about 
one-third of its grain cultivation ; it is alsoex- 
tensively grown in Mymensing. The lowest 
lands, bordering upon creeks and morasses, 
where water may easilybeobtained for the pur- 
pose of irrigation, are selected for this cultiva- 

Mode of **^"" ^^ ^^^ month of October, a portion of 
cuu.vaiiiig. jj^jjd of small extent is worked by the plough or 

by persons treading it, until it is converted into 
the consistence of mud, about 2^ feet deep, and 
calculated to retain its moisture for fourteen 
days. During this preparation of the ground, 
the seed is subjected to a forced vegetation at 
the ryott's hut. It is steeped in a bag or basket, 
in the nearest muddy jheel or creek for twelve 
hours, after which it is allowed to dry for a 
couple of days. It is next spread out upon a 
mat and exposed to the sun, and occasionally 
sprinkled with water. On the fifth day the 
seeds will be found to be swollen and ready to 
germinate, and being now considered fit for 
sowing, the bed of mud is made smooth with 
the implement called the " Mowee," and they 
are scattered over the surface of the ground. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 127 

This nursery is watched for four or five days Cuitiratinnof 

to keep off birds, and until the seed is well set 

in the soil. In December and January, the 

plants when they are about a foot high are 

plucked up, and if they have much leaf, are 

cropped and transplanted to fields ^prepared 

for them in the vicinity of water. Here they 

are irrigated and weeded for a couple of 

months, after which, the only care required, 

is to keep off birds and hogs. This crop is 

reaped in May and June, and yields a larger 

return, and grain superior in quality, to that 

of the Amoun or Aoos rice. A somewhat si- 

milar mode of cultivation is adopted in China, 

and the scriptural expression of "cast thy 

bread upon the waters for thou shalt find it 

again after many days," seems to imply that 

something of the same kind was practised by 

the Jews on the banks of the Jordan. The Cuitwation 

Seyele rice is cultivated in the same way as rice. 

the Bora, but with this difference, that the 

Seyele is transplanted in June and July to the 

highest clayey soils available for the purpose, 

and is reaped in January and February. This 

cultivation is peculiar to the northern division, 

where it thrives best in heavy clayey soils, 

and yields the largest returns in seasons of 

heavy rain. This crop, which comprises seven 

varieties, is esteemed the best of all the kinds 

of rice raised in the district. The number of 

plants of the Bora and Seyele rice average 

about 20 to the square cubit of ground. The or^od.Sout 

Ouree or jhara dhaun, or indigenous rice, is 

found growing in great abundance in the low 



rice. 



128 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

lands of the northern division, and is so 
easily detached from the ear, when ripe, that 
it is generally gathered by shaking the plant 
over a basket. It is occasionally brought to 
the bazars by poor persons, and from the fine- 
ness of its grain, it usually sells at a higher 
price than any of the cultivated kinds. The 
The Millet, gpecics of millet that are cultivated are the 
Cheena (Panicum Miliaceum) and Kaughnee 
(Panicum Italicum.) They are sown on the 
low lands in the southern division after" the 
rains, and are reaped in March arid April— 
CafFre corn (Panicum Sorghum) also thrives 
remarkably well in this part of the country. 
A small quantity of this grain, imported from 
the Cape in 1836, has yielded abundant re- 
turns. This millet being considerably larger 
than the Cheena or Khaugnee is much sought 
after by the ryotts, and is likely to be exten- 
sively cultivated, especially in the northern 
division of the district. 

The on TheoilseedsareSursoo,(SinapisDichotoma) 

Til, (Sesamum Orientale) and Tisee, (Linum 
Ussitatissimum.) The former is chiefly grown 
in the northern division, and in many places 
where the soil is moist, it is sown without any 
previous preparation of the ground, but in the 
higher sites the ground is ploughed for the 
Muitara of purposc. Mustard is sown in September and 
wo variei et. Qctobcr, and is reaped in January and Fe- 
bruary. It comprises two varieties which 
mit ^arbT differ chiefly in the colour of the grain. Deer 
voc on them, frequently commit great depredations on this 



y 



TOPOORAPHY or DACCA. 



129 



crop. Til or sesamtim ia most extensively 
cultivated along the banks of the Luckia, 
where it is frequently sown along with the 
Amoun rice constituting the crop called " Til 
buwat chea/' It is reaped in May and June. 
Both this article and the other oil grains 
however, are more extensively cultivated to 
the north of the Berhampooter, than in this 
district. 

Khessaree (Lathyrus Sattvus), Moosooree, Puise coiti- 
(Cicer Leus) Chick pea, Moogh, (Phaseolus l\n^ to^the 
trilobus), Muttur, (Pisum Sativum) common orihe'duuHcc 
pea, and KuUae, (Dolichos Pilosus) are the 
liguminous grains that are cultivated here. 
They are all raised on the Chotna rice lands,, 
.with the exception of the Moogh, which is 
grown on a higher level. The whole quan- 
tity of pulse, however, that is raised in the 
district, does not afford a supply of dhal 
equal to the consumption, and a considerable 
importation of these grains, takes place from 
Patna, &c. 



The other grains, which are all cultivated other grains. 
in smaller quantities than the preceding, are 
Meethee (Trigonella foeniculum) or fenu- 
greek, Kallijeera, (Nigella Sativa) or common 
fennel flower, Sonf, (Anethun fceniculum) and 
Sulfa (Anethum Sowa) or dill, and Dhuniya, 
(Coriander Sativum) or Coriander. They are 
raised in small quantities, and usually on the 
same field. They are sown in December, and 
reaped in April. Jow or Barley, (Hordeum 



130 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Hexastichon), Mukuee (Zea Mays) or Indian 
Corn, and Roas (Vicia Faba) are also caised 
in the district, but in small quantities. 

Couon. Cotton. — The material of which the fine 

Dacca muslins are made, is entirely the pro- 

an^u^al '^**"* ^"^^ ^^ ^^^ district. The plant is an annual 

one, and attains a height of about five feet. 

It is described by Roxburgh as a variety of 

from'^Tha" of *^® Gossiptum Herhaceuhi^ and is said to differ 

Beofi^ai. from the common cotton plant of Bengal in 

the following particulars — " 1st, The branches 
are more erect, with fewer branches and the 
lobes of the leaves more pointed. 2d — ^The 
whole of the plant is tinged of a reddish co- 
lour even the petioles and nerves of the leaves 
Its descrip. are less pubescent. 3d — The peduncles, which 
support the flowers, are longer, and the exterior 
margins of the petals are tinged with red. 4th 
— The staple of the cotton is longer, much finer 
Dwee cot- and softer." This is the Desee or indigenous 
cotton of the district, which has been culti- 
vated in the northern division from time im- 
memorial. Formerly, when this article was 
more extensively cultivated than at present. 
Different there wcrc different shades of quality ob- 
uAabie^ii the scrvablc iu the staple, which either cannot 
*'"'' ^' now be distinguished or have degenerated into 

one of an inferior degree. They were known 

by the names of Phootee, Nurmah, and Bai- 

raite. The cotton of the present day, it is 

By native affirmed by the natives, is inferior to what 

oHo qMHty to it formerly was. The, crops are less abun- 

whatitwM. ^^^^^ -J -g said, and the fibres though appa- 



\ 



/ 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 131 

rently equally fine and soft, are shorter and 
more firmly adherent to the seed, than the 
produce of former years. The Dacca cotton, Dacca cot- 
however, notwithstanding the deterioration qualurtTIny 
imputed to it, still ranks as an article of gaif' "^^^ 
finer quality than the produce of other parts 
of Bengal or of the western provinces. Of 
late years, small quantities of it have occa- 
sionally been exported to the Calcutta bazars, 
where it always sells at a higher price than 
cotton imported from other parts of the 
country. Two crops are raised in the dis- Two crJ^9 
trict ; they are gathered in April and Septem- 
ber, but the first yields the finest produce, 
and is the one that is chiefly cultivated. The 
seeds which are used for sowing are carefully Modeof«ii. 

tivatiny. 

picked, and after having been dried in the 
sun, a^e preserved in an earthen pot in which 
oil or ghee has been kept, and the vessel with 
its mouth stopped up, so as exclude the ex- 
ternal air, is hung up to the roof of the hut, 
and over the spot that the fire is usually 
kindled. The high lands are selected for 
this crop, and are ploughed from eight to 
twelve times, up to September, and October, 
when the seeds are sown. This is done in 
parallel rows, distant about a cubit from each 
other, and before the seeds are dropped into 
the ground they are moistened with water. 
The cotton plant is liable to injury from hail Deteriorates 
storms, heavy rain, and caterpillars. It im- 
poverishes the soil, and the same field never 
produces successively more than two crops 
of good cotton. Formerly the ground for 



133 



TOPOORAPHY OP DACCA, 



Soppoeed 
cause of the in- 
feriority of the 
Cotton of th« 
preteat day. 



Northern 
pi^t of the 
district produ- 
ces the best 
C*ttoo. 



Peculiar 
kind of soil 
necessary. 



cotton was allowed to lie fallow every fourth 
year, and it appears to be owing to the neg- 
lect of this circumstance in the present day^ 
that the produce is now inferior in quality 
to that of former times* A good crop is 
estimated at 8 maunds per beegah. The 
average proportion of seeds to wool is about 
f or 32 seers of the former in one maund 
or 40 seers of the uncleaned cotton. The 
northern division of the district produces the 
best cotton, and in the situation, especially 
that portion of it bordering upon the Megna 
and Berhampooter, in Sunergong, Capassia, 
Toke and Junglebaree, in which this article 
was chiefly cultivated in former times. The 
soil here, it may be remarked, possesses the 
different constituents, that are supposed to 
be essentially necessary to the formation of 
good cotton ground in America, and it is, 
perhaps, to this circumstance, that the supe- 
riority of the Dacca cotton over that grown 
in other parts of Bengal is to be attributed. 



Baines states ** that a mixture of silicious 
and argillacious earth is the most desirable, 
with a preponderance of the former," and 
more lately it would appear that lime has 
been found to constitute one of the ingredi* 
ents.* These different earths are present 
here, especially the* silica, which is brought 
down by the Berhampooter, and which ren- 
ders the lands much drier in this part of the 



• Vide Baines*s History of the Cotton manufactures of Britain. 
Piddington. Journal of the Asialic Society, 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 133 

district than in the country bordering on the 
Ganges. The cottoh of the northern division 
is said to swell less, than the produce of other 
parts of the country. This tendency of the 
fibre to swell in bleaching, is the criterion by criterion bj 
which the weavers judge of its quality, but judge the qu" 
whether it depends on any inherent property *^^ ° ^^^'*'"' 
in the cotton itself, or on the water used in 
bleaching, is not known, though there is rea- 
son to believe, that it is principally owing 
to the latter. The thread manufactured at 
Dumroy, which was reported by Mr. Bebb, 
the Commercial Resident, to swell the most, is 
found by the weavers at present to be equal 
to the thread of the best aunmgs, or to swell 
the least if bleached in Dacca, but the re- 
verse, as Mr. Bebb describes it, if the water 
of Dumroy be used in the process. 

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius,) is culti- Safflower. 

^ ^' where culli. 

vated in the tract of country, lying between ^*^e<». 
the Ganges and DuUaserry, but chiefly on the 
banks of the latter river in the vicinity of 
Pattergotta, where the flower of the best qua- 
lity is produced. The other principal site of 
cultivation Is Bellispore. The land best adapt- son bei»t 

*■ * adapted for it 

ed for it is the rich mixed soil or clay. About 
six seers of seed are required for a beegah of 
land of 7,000 square cubits, and this extent 
of cultivation, if the soil be good and the 
season favorable, will yield between ten and 
eleven seers of the flower. The seed is sown when sown 
in October and November, and the flowers, *" ** 
when their petals have become of a deep 



Process 



134 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

orange colour, are gathered in March, April 
and May. The flowers that have been pluck* 
ed during the day are saturated with water in 
the evening, and next morning are trodden 

preparing the ^P^^ ^Y *^^ Tyotts. This proccss is repeated 
cakes. f^^ f^^^ oT fivc days, uutil the water runs off 

clear, and the flowers are considered to be 

free from all impurities. The mass is then 

I divided into small portions, which are made 

into flat cakes and dried in the sun. Safflow- 
I Bazar price, q^ scUs at a pricc usually Varying from 16 to 

cumva*ioa. ^^ 25 rupccs per maund. The expence of culti- 
vation does not exceed 7 rupees, and the 
\ average profit derived from it may be esti- 

lai^ed from the Elated at rupees 3-8 per beegah. An oil is 

*^^^*' procured from the seeds, which is used for 

burning : it sells in the bazars at half the 

An article of ° ' 

I food. price of mustard oil. The seeds also, mixed 

i with sugar and milk, are eaten by the ryotts, 

and the ashes of the leaves and stalks, which 
contain a considerable quantity of potash, are 
used by them as a substitute for soap in wash- 
raise"d?n nso. iug. The whole quantity of safflower raised 
in the district in 1 789 was consumed by the 
dyers in the city, and according to Mr. Dou- 
glass, the Collector, it was grown in a small 
quantity and used solely for the sake of its 
In 1800-1810. yellow dye. About the year 1800 a consi- 
derable quantity of it was exported, and in 
1810 the total quantity raised in the district 
amounted to 2,000 maunds. The largest ex- 
portation that has yet been made, occurred in 
croV?n'l825, 1824-25. The total quantity that passed the 
iu raiuc Custom Housc of Calcutta in that year amount- 



I 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 135 

ed to 8,448 maunds, and was valued at rupees 
2,90,655-8-6, and of this quantity, it is estimat- 
ed that two-thirds were grown in the vicinity 
of Dacca. The average annual quantity ex- 
ported during the last eight years has been 
about 4,000 maunds. Safflower is often adul- orren adai. 
terated by the natives with substances of a 
similar colour that generate insects, by which 
it is frequently rendered entirely useless, by 
the time it reaches England. The Dacca superior to 

any other cnl- 

safflower, however, is superior to any that is t».vatcd io in- 
grown in India, and ranks next to China saf- 
flower in the London market. Safflower, it 
may be mentioned, yields two kinds of colour- yjeids two 
ing matter — a yellow, and a red. The former, ^^^^"^^^ 
which is soluble in cold water, is removed by 
repeated washings, and the residue yields tlie 
red colour by digestion in a cold solution of 
carbonate of potash, from which it is preci- 
pitated by weak citric acid. The red colour, 
•or " Carthamic acid" as it is called by some 
chemists, exceeds in beauty the colour of co- 
chineal, but cloths, dyed with it, will not bear 
the action of soap nor exposure to the sun for 
a long time. It is used to imitate upon silk 
the pouceau (scarlet) of the French, and mix- 
ed with talc in powder, it forms common 
rouge. 

Indigo (Indigofera tincloria) is chiefly indigo where 
cultivated on newly formed churs, and on the uralcd/ *^"* 
Aoos and Chotna rice lands. Most of the 
plant in the southern division is from October 
sowings. The manufacture of the dye in this 



136 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

part of the district is commenced generally 
about the 25th of May, and is finished by the 
beginning of July. In the northern division, 
where the lands are higher, the seed is sown 
in February and March, and the manufacture 
is not begun until about the end of June. 
The produce of this district is considered to 
Inferior in be of au inferior quality to that of Jessore. 

quality to thai ^ *f 

of jcMore. In factories where the water of the Berham- 
pooter is used in the manufacturing process, 
there is generally a mixture of very fine sili- 
cious sand with the indigo, which renders it 
hard, and gives it a shining appearance on 
being broken. In the year 1801 there were 
Tndiiro ma. ouly two Small iudigo factories in this dis- 

irreatiy ii). trict. Tho numbcr at present, (within the 
limits of the Zillah), amounts to thirty-three. 
The extent of land under cultivation is esti- 
mated at 100,000 beegahs, and the annual 
quality of indigo produced at 2500 maunds. 
The outlay of money among ryotts and per- 
sons employed in the manufacture of the 
dye, averages about three lacs of rupees or 
£30,000 a year. 

Sunn where Sunn (CrotolaHa Juncea.) — ^This plant is 
raised on the alluvial lands of both divisions of 
the district, but it thrives best near the Ganges, 
and about Sunergong on the eastern side 

wheniowD. of the Luckia. The seed is sown in October 
and November, and in February, March and 
April the plants are plucked up by the roots, 

Procew of ^icd iuto buudlcs, and macerated in the 
hi^hlrop"'" nearest jheel or river, until the bark and 



creased. 



PrpRcnt 
produce. 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 137 

• 

>^oody part becoming loose, are easily de- 
tached from each other, by agitation under 
•iwater. The bark or fibrous part, which con- 
stitutes the hemp, is then divested of its muci- 
lage by pouring water over it, and by gently 
beating it upon a wooden plank, in the manner 
that clothes are washed in this country, or by 
drawing the bundle through the teeth of a 
coarse wooden comb, by which the fibres are 
separated. A beegah of good land is estimated Produce of 
to produce three maunds of the clean sunn, the faod!*^^* 
highest price of which is two rupees per cost of cui. 
maund. The land requires to be ploughed 
from twelve to sixteen times, and the ex- 
pence of tliis labour, together with rent, 
seed, &c. is estimated at rupees 2-8 per bee- 
gah. In 1806 the Dacca district produced 
10,000 maunds of this article, and the Quantify 
total quantity purchased by the. commercial {'he'^duuic" 
resident, in this and the neighbouring district?, *" *®^* 
on account of the British Navy, amounted 
in that year to 55,000 maunds. The quantity 
that is now raised is small, and is chiefly ^ 

" Present 

used in the manufacture of fishing nets. produce. 

Pat (Corchorus OH torius J— Jew's Mallow Patand 
BXid Mesta Pat (Hibiscus Cannabinus.) — Sy- ""^*' 
rian Mallow, — These plants are more exten- 
sively cultivated than the sunn. The seed is 
sown in February and March, and the plants 
are plucked up at the commencement of the 
rains. They are prepared in the same way as ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ 
the sunn. The fibres of Pat, and Mesta Pat *»™« p»'hos« 

^ M Suau. 

S 



138 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



are used to make ropes, and also for the 
manufacture of paper, and of sackcloth in 
Bickrampore. A considerable quantity is 
also exported to Calcutta. 



Eitent of 
cultivation. 



soffarcanc, Sugar Cauc (Sacchavum Officinale) — Is 

more exten- ^ * . 

wveiy cuiti- more extensively cultivated in Furreedpore, 

▼ated at Fur- "^ . . 

reedpore and and Backcrgungc, than in this district. In 
the former Zillah the cultivation of it extends 
along the western bank of the Ganges to a dis- 
tance of several mile?, and the cane of that 
part of the country is superior to the produce 
of any of the eastern districts. The extent 
of cultivation in this district was estimated 
by Mr. Douglass in 1792, at 1000 beegahs of 
50 yards square, and perhaps the cultivation 
in the present day does not exceed double 
that quantity of land. The gour or molasses 
is of an inferior qualtity, and is entirely con- 
sumed in cookery, and the preparation of 
sweetmeats. The article, from which the 
sugar for the consumption of the town is ex- 
tracted, is imported from other districts, and 
yields three qualities in the proportions of 16, 
18 and 20 seers of the latter from a maund of 
cheenee. The total consumption of the three 
qualities does not exceed 50 maunds. 



Chillief. 



LiUnka Mirich (Capsicum Frutescens)^ Dhan 
Mirich {Capsicum Minimum^) or Chillies. 
Both articles are extensively cultivated here, 
especially the former, which is exported 
in large quantities to Calcutta. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



139 



Huldee (Curcuma longa and Gardneria ovata) 
Turmeric— Adruck (Zinziber Officinalis) G'm- 
ger. They are grown in fields in the more 
elevated parts of the district, especially about 
Sunergong, and in Bickrampore, but the whole 
quantity, that is raised, is consumed in the 
district. Both articles are much more exten- 
sively cultivated in the district of Furreed- 
pore than here. 



Tarmeric. 



Tobacco (Nicotiana Tabacum.) — The culti- 
vation of tobacco is limited to the consump- 
tion by the ryotts in the country. A consi- 
derable quantity is imported from Rungpore, 
Cooch Behar, &c. 



Tobacco, 



Among the plants cultivated in gardens piantu cni- 

and fields, in the vicinity of the ryott's huts, Tiiiafrersmthe 

t /• -11 • • Ticioity of their 

are the toUowing, viz. houses. 



1st. — Pan (Piper Betel) pan or betel leaf. 
It comprizes three varieties, one of which is 
common to all parts of the district, while the 
other two called elachee and kapooree, names 
which they derive from their superior fla- 
vour, are cultivated only in Sunergong. 



Pan. 



2d. — Koomra (Cucurbita pepo.) — ^There are 
four varieties, distinguished by the names of 
koomra, methee khoosmandah, gimee khoos- 
mandah and chaal khoosmandah. The second 
and third varieties are chiefly cultivated in 
Bickrampore. The latter of these two (G.K.) 
is peculiar to this place, and the district of 



Koomra; 



I 

\ 



140 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Backergunge, from whence large quantities 
are sent to Calcutta, and different parts of 
the country. If hung up in a place where 
there is a fire lit daily, the gimee khoosman- 
dah, it is said, will keep good for two years* 
The fourth variety is used both as a vegetable 
and a preserve, and is in great requisition 
among the Hindoos at the Doorgah Poojah; 

3. Kudoo (Cucurbita Lagenaria.) 

4. Shurkaru Ku^ida (Convolvus Batatas.) 

5. Oochya (Momordica Mixta.) 

6. Karelia (Cleome Pentophylla.) 

7. Bygun (Solanum Melongena.) 

8. Keera (Cucumis Sativus.) 

9. Futee (Cucumis Momordica.) 

10. Toriee (Luffa Acutangula.) 

1 1 . Kuchoo (Arum Colocasia-) 

12. Man Kuchoo (Arum Indicum.) 

13. Moolee (Raphanus Sativus.) 

14. Danta Sag (Amaranthus Gangeticus.) 

Number three is cultivated in fields, and upon 
the roofs of huts in all parts of the district, 
and four and six are only raised in the 
northern division, and the latter upon a trellis 
made of bamboos. The district is celebra- 
^.^^reat varif. ted for its plautaius, and pine apples. Of 
piantaio. eight Varieties of the Plantain (^Musa para- 
disiaca) two called Murtowan, and Champa 
Kela, are esteemed the best. The former in 
particular, which is only cultivated in Bick- 
rampore, is considered to be the finest fla- 
voured fruit of its kind in India. The trees 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



141 



Pine apple. 



Lime*. 



Varieties. 



are renewed every second or third year, and 
are manured with the earth taken from the 
sides of the ditches. Pine Apples (Bromelia 
Ananas) are raised in abundance north of 
the toAvn, and chiefly about the villages of 
Bhowal and Tezgong, where the variety, 
called the Dacca pine apple, is cultivated. 
The superiority of the pine apple at these 
places, is perhaps owing to the care that 
was originally bestowed on its culture by 
the Portuguese Missionaries, and the Euro- 
peans attached to the foreign factories, all 
of whom had gardens at the latter place. 
Limes (Citrus Medico) are raised in large 
quantities in Bickrampore, and are chiefly 
used in the bleaching of muslins. There are 
six varieties, of which the Kalombo and Bha- 
tassee are the largest, and which are the 
kinds used in bleaching. TheElachee and 
Khagassee varieties, so named, the former 
from its superior flavour, and the latter from 
its rind not being thicker than paper, are 
plentiful. Surbuttee, which is the size of 
an orange, is made into preserves, and is used 
for sherbets; and the Katajmaree is adminis- 
tered in cases of enlarged spleen. The Soo- sooparee 
puree or Betel-nut (Areca Catechu) is one of JreaiVcuiiu 
the trees, that is most extensively cultivated ^*^*^' 
in the southern parts of the district, where 
it yields a considerable revenue to proprietors 
of land. There are also extensive plantations 
of it in the Tipperah district, along the eastern 
bank of the Megna. In these latter places, 
the average number of trees to a beegah is 



142 



TOPOGEAPHY OF DACCA. 



700, but in this district, the trees are generally 
planted round gardens and huts. It yields 
fruit in the 8th year, and is most productive 
from that time up to the 16th year, after 
which the produce falls off. The value of 
a tree varies according to its age, but the 
average is about eight annae. The nuts are 
plucked in November by persons, who pass 
from tree to tree without descending to the 
ground. They are then dried in the sun 
for a few days, and are shelled upon a piece 
of bamboo fixed in the ground. This is done 
by drawing them along the edge, of the bamboo, 
which is as sharp as a knife, and is performed 
by persons who generally work with both 
hands, or upon two of these instruments at 
the same time. The number of nuts that 
an expert operator can thus shell in one 
day, is about 3600. Betel-nuts are exported 
to Rungpore, Assam, and Arracan. Those 
that are sent to the former places are unshell- 
ed. Nariel or Cocoanut tree(Cocos Nucifera) 
is most abundant in the southern part of the 
district, especially in Rajanaghur. It bears 
in the 7th year, and the average number of 
nuts that each tree yields is 70, which sell 
for one rupee. There is in Bhowal a species of 
Cocoanut tree called " Sunbunya," which bears 
Shell mannfac. fruit iu the third year. Its shell is very thick 
dvc hookahi!" ^^^ stroug, and is in requisition for the manu- 
facture of native's hookahs. The other trees 
that are usually cultivated are the Mangoe, 
Jack, Tamarind, Bier, &c. 



Exported. 



Cocoannt 
tree. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 143 

With the view of supplying an article of Cawada 
diet in seasons of scarcity the Cassada plant ?a1cl*'" "" 
(Jatropha manihot) was introduced into the 
district in 1792, on the recommendation of Go- 
vernment, but the cultivation of it never became 
general, and after a few years it was entirely 
abandoned. Coffee and Anatto (Bixa orel- coffeeand 
lana) have been cultivated on a large scale "* °' 
in the northern division, but neither of them 
has been found to answer as a mercantile 
speculation. 

Most of the common vegetables of Europe ^ ^^^^^ 
thrive well here, but their cultivation is ofEarop«. 
confined to the gardens of the few European 
residents at the station, none of them being 
raised by the natives or sold in the bazars, 
as is the case in Calcutta. Horticulture is „' . ,. 

Horticulture 

at a low ebb in this part of the country, but «* « low ebb. 
it is to be hoped that the garden, which Col. 
Stacy has so liberally made over to the Dacca 
community for experimental purposes, will be 
the means of exciting a taste for it among the 
natives. 

Husbandry. — The boundaries of fields at a Husbandry 
distance from villages consist of ridges of 
earth, about a cubit in breadth, and from two 
to three feet in height, and constitute the only 
roads or pathways in the interior. The fields p|g,jj ,„^ 
and gardens on the elevated lands of villages, f *'^^rated fron 
where the more valuable articles of produce w*»o>*>«r- 
are raised, are generally separated from each 
other by ditches, and surrounded above by 



]i4 .TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

by clumps of bamboos or fences, consisting 
of the bet (Calamus Retang), or the castor 
oiji tree (Ricinus Communis), planted at a little 
distance from each other, with the intervening 
spaces filled up with the dry branches of some 
thorny bush. The Pareejat (Erythrina ful- 
gens) is not unfrequently used as a hedge 
round huts in the country, and the Bherendro 
(Jatrapha Curcas) and Chita (Plumbago Zey- 
lanica) are often applied to the same pur- 

Manure. posc in the viciuity of the town. The ma- 
nuring of fields is entirely confined to the 
gardens of Sunergong and Bickrampore, 
where the more valuable articles of produce 
are raised. In the former, mustard oil cake 
is used as a manure for pan gardens, and in 
the latter, the bedding of cow houses, and the 
alluvial and vegetable compost on the sides of 
ditches are employed for the same purpose 
in gardens of plantains. The weed called 
Pana (Pistia stratiotes,) which grows so luxu- 
riantly on the surface of morasses, is used, 
to manure the roots of betel aad cocoanut 

irrigatioD. trces. Irrigation is confined to the cultivation 
of the bora or transplanted rice, when there 
is a want of rain in February and March;, 
and is effected by means of a trough, con- 
sisting of the half of a tall tree scooped out, 
and moved upon a fulcrum of a couple of 

Agricultural bamboos laid crosswise* The agricultural 

implements, implements in use are the plough ; the moyepii, 

consisting of two or three pieces of bamboo, 

with cross bars between them, like a ladder ; 

it is used to smooth the ground, ^preparatory 



TOPOGRAPHY ©F DACCA. 145 

to sowing ; the bhiddaj or rake or harrow, which The rake 
is made of bamboo with teeth of the same piemenu. 
material : it is drawn by a couple of oxen, and 
is used to thin the Aoos rice, when the plant 
has sprung up too thick, and also to clear the 
fields from weeds: the Centah Moger, or mal- 
let, made of a heavy piece of wood, and used 
to break the hard clods of earth upon the 
fields after ploughing : the others are the 
Ckejfne^ or iron instrument for weeding, the 
kassee or sickle, the kodal^ kural, kantah and 
daw which resemble the same implements 
in other parts of the country.* The working 
cattle of the district are of an inferior breed, cattieof an 
and are weak and puny, and of a smaller size ^°^*^"°' *"****' 
than the cattle of the western districts. 
Ploughing commences at sun rise and ceases 
at noon, during which time two sets of oxen 
are alternately employed in the work. Mus- 
sulman farmers not unfrequently yoke cows 
to the plough, but they are never worked for 
more than half the time that oxen are. Bui- 
locks from the Upper Provinces, or the western 
districts, are usually employed for oil and 
sugar mills, and the conveyance of goods. 
The rice plant is reaped about three feet from ReapiDj^ of 
the ear, and is tied up into sheaves each about * "" ^ "'' 
a span in circumference. It is conveyed to 
the ryott's hut, by water, or on a kind of 
hurdle drawn by cattle, and is usually stacked, 
until the grain is separated from the ear. Gmin how 
This is done, as in all other parts of India, by JK'^^"" 

* All theffe implements are known by diflfereni naoiea in different 
parts of the coaulr)*. 



146 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

cattle treaduig it out, and, the prohibition 
against ** muzzling the ox" during this process 
is observed here, as it was in Judoea of old. 
The number of bullocks employed at one time, 
in a " dhaun ka kella" varies from three to 
fifteen, including a leader, and the quantity 
of grain, that the latter number can tread out 
in a day, is estimated at 30 maunds. After 
the operation of winnowing, the grain is dried 

xhTghSn. ^^ ^^ ^^^ ®^"» ^^^ *^^^ Stored upon a stage of 

mats and bamboos raised a few feet from the 

ground, and generally erected within the 

ryott's hut. The legumes, mustard, and all 

The smaller the Smaller grains are beaten out with a stick, 

graiQs. much in the same way it may be remarked, 

as fitches and cumin seed were by the antient 
The manoer Jews.* The huskiug of paddcc is usually 

of hoRkiog the i i , n ^ 

paddy. performed in the country by means of the 

implement called the Ooklee, or wooden 
pestle and mortar worked with the hands, and 
in the town by the dhenkee or stamper. 
Ryotts also use these implements to pound 
castor oil and safflower seeds : the pounded 
mass is then thrown into hot water, from the 
surface of which the oil is '^skimmed ofi: The 
The mich milch kiuc of this district are reckoned the 
best in Bengal. The breed called the Des- 
wallee are kept in the city, they are shut up 
and fed on grass brought in from the j heels 
of the northern division. Buffaloes are kept 
chiefly by Zemindars and Gowallas in the 
country. Buffaloe's milk is used entirely for 

• liaiah XXVIII. Chap. 27 Verse. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 147 

dhaee and ghee. A considerable quantity of rheete an 

, . , , , . rr«* i_ 1 article of ex- 

cheese is made here, and in Tipperah and port. 

Mymensing, from whence it is exported to 

different parts of the country, and among 

other places to Jidda and Bussorah. Sheep, PHceofsheep, 

goats, fowls, ducks and pigeons are reared for 

the markets and are abundant. The former 

may be purchased in the country for ten 

annas, and fowls and ducks at six pice a 

piece. There are two or three blanket- Blankets 

.1 • • •. o J.V. -^ 1 made, bat ihe 

weavers in the vicinity of the city who pur- wool of very 
chase sheep's wool, but the greater quantity my"^ ^"'' 
of this article which is of a very inferior 
quality, is thrown away by the ryotts. 

Land Measures. — ^The land measures of the Land mea. 
district are the Droon, Kaddah and Beegah, "'**' 
but the first two, which are more generally 
known by the inferior denominations of can- ^^ cannee 
nee and pakhee, are most frequently used. *n^ P«khee. 
The pakhee is common on the higher lands ^ The Pak- 
of the northern division, while the cannee is (he high land*. 
adopted on the low and artificially raised nee on the 
lands throughout the district. The cubit or 
haut is the unit of measure, and the mode of j^,^^ ^^ 
measurement is by a rod or null of a specific »«~"remeot. 
length. A null of 7^ is the one that is most 
frequently employed, and may be regarded 
therefore as the standard lineal measure of 
the district. A variety of other nulls, how- 
ever, all varying in dimensions from 6 to 15 
cubits are also used, and have given rise to the 
arbitrary distinctions of kutcha and pucka, 
as applied to the above denominations, as 



148 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 

hutcha can nee and kutcha pakhe^, and pucka 
cannee and pucka pakhee. By the former, 
the zemindars enter into contracts with their 
ryotts, and make settlements with the revenue 
officers, and by the latter land is always sold. 
The following are the areas of the Droon 
and Khaddah, according to the nulls gene* 
rally used. 



Length of Nulls. Acres. Roods. Perches. Square Feet. 
C9 Cubits = 
Droon... •Js ditto sss 
( n ditto = 

Khadd.h|g-;«» = 

l\ ditto =: I Null. 7| CubiU == I Null 
12 Nulls long J , c 6 Nulls »on|f > , p . . 

10 dittobroad J— ^ Uannee. ^ ditto broad J— ^ *^*>^w« 



32 





21 


42i 


25 


1 


10 


107 

130; 


22 


1 


13 


5 


2 


13 


]05i 


4 





30 


112 



Measure- The measurement by the beegah is chiefly 

meiit by the /,■..,. i /w 

Beegah. coufined to mdigo and samower lands ; therie 

are two beegahs in use, viz. one of 100 cubits 
square equal to two roods, two perches and 
179^ feet, and the other of 100X80 cubits 
equal to one rood, 26 perches and ^\^ feet. 

Kent aad Rent and Ryotts. — ^The rent of land varies 
'^^"'' according to the quality and elevation of the 

soil, and the number of crops it is capable of 

Rent accord- yielding in one year. Jungle and newly 
quality of (be formcd chur lands are let rent free for the 

•oil. 

first year: in the second, a small rent is 
charged, which increases in amount until th^ 
fourth or fifth year, when the full value is im- 
posed. The ryotts in general are partial to 
cbnr lands, the Cultivation of chur lands. The value of 
Bfetee bheetec, or artificially raised lands, depend3 
land. entirely on its site, or on its being old or r^- 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 149 

cently formed land, and also on the stock of 
trees upon it. In Bickrampore it ranges 
from five to thirty rupees per cannee, while in 
the western parts of the district it averages 
four Rupees per pakhee. A ryott making 
new bheetee land is not charged rent for three 
years. Sugar cane, cotton, safflower and Landa for* 

• J. ij 1J.J. J. i_«i_ the cultivation 

mdigo lands are let, at rates, which vary ©r sugar-cane, 

considerably in different parts of the country. ^wy\ *rcnt. 

The rent of land for the cultivation of the 

first of these articles is generally 25 or 30 per 

cent, more than that of rice lands. Indigo 

lands, in the western parts of the district, are 

let on an average at 6 annas per beegah ; but 

churs upon which this article is cultivated 

pay less than rice lands. Of the rice lands, Rent or ric« 

the levels for the bhora, or transplanted crop, 

are let at the highest rates, and the Aoos lands 

at the lowest. Lands producing two crops 

in the year, as the Chotna rice lands, on 

which legumes, and small grains are raised, 

are charged about one-fifth more rent than 

land yielding one crop ; but when any of the 

more valuable articles of produce constitutes 

the second crop, as cotton or safflower, the rate 

is about one-third. The changes produced on 

the soil by the rivers occasion a corresponding 

change in the relative value of land ; in some 

parts of the district, within the last thirty years, 

the value of land has been depreciated to the 

extent of seventy-five per cent, from this 

cause ; while in other situations it has been 

proportionally augmented . Rent is generally Rent paid in 

paid in cash : it is collected monthly, or at the 



lands. 



cash. 



160 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

expiration of every fourth or sixth month : 

wSnd"k"on ^'^^^^^ payments are rare. Occasionally 
a Burgrah p»u either a Talookdar, or the holder of a lease, 

tah teiiare. ^ ' ^ ' 

lets his land on what is called a Burgah pot- 
tah, which resembles the "Metayer" tenure 
Definition ^^ farms Oil the continent of Europe. He 
of >t- gives the land rent free, and provides half the 

seed : the ryott furnishes the remaining half, 
cultivates the ground, and reaps the crop, and 
the produce is equally divided between them. 
A ryott, if he is too poor to purchase seed, 
enters into an arrangement with the seller of 
that article, by which he stipulates to give 
him in return for the seed received a share of 
the produce of his fields ; or if he happens to 
lose his cattle, he employs his neighbours to 
plough his land, for which the latter is gene- 
rally paid in money. The ryotts or jotedars 
on this side of the Ganges, with the exception 
of a few who have Kymes in perpetuity, do 
not consider themselves as possessing any 
proprietory right in the soil, they cultivate, or 
that they are entitled to alleniate their jotes. 
They cannot therefore sub-let their lands, ex- 
AtFaireed. c^p' ou a Burgah tenure. In the district of 
frpraauSTb Furreedpore, on the western side of the Gan- 
foiiowcd. g^g^ ^Yie opposite practice obtains in general. 
There the jotedar is at liberty to sub-let his 
lands, and cannot be disposed by the Zemin- 
Ryotr. there dar. The ryotts seldom emigrate beyond the 

canoot be dig. ,..., ^ ' • 'a. • j*x •••!. # 

poM«>iuied by district or places m its immediate vicinity, 
emiodar. ^^^^pj. ^h^re they are induced to do so, by the 

advantageous offers held out to them by rival 
Zemindars. On these occasions^ the expense 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 151 

of removing their property, and of erecting 
their huts is defrayed by the Zemindar, 
and an advance of money, without interest 
being charged for one year, is also made to 
enable them to stock their farms. This prac- 
tice, it may be remarked though attended 
with some advantages to the ryotts, is never- 
theless, in a majority of instances, an indirect 
encouragement to those who are in- arrears 
of rent to desert, before they have liqui- 
dated their debt, and is therefore a frequent 
occasion of disturbance leading to serious 
affrays in the district. The mode of assess- Mode of a*. 
ment that was practised by the Zemindars, ^**"*7o "the 
prior to the permanent settlement, consisted {^l^n/iTL"^ '*^' 
in making a hustabood or measurement of 
the ryott's fields at the commencement of 
the harvest, agreeably to which estimate, the 
produce of the land was valued and the rent 
imposed. The demand on the husbandmtn 
appears to have been regulated by the rates 
paid by persons cultivating new lands, but 
the standard of assessment, whatever it was, 
was never adhered to by the Zemindar, and 
the ryott therefore seldom derived any bene- 
fit from an abundant harvest, and had no 
inducement to cultivate more land than was 
actually necessary to yield him a subsistence. 
Notwithstanding the oppression they were r^^^ ^^^^ 
thus subjected to, the ryotts objected to any ^Jhen^fiMUn' 
change in their old established customs, Induced ob. 

^ ' jected to by 

and when pottahs or leases were first intro- *•"« ^ J^^^- 
duced, they threatened to leave their villages ; 
and it was^ a considerable time before they 



152 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

could be prevailed on to enter into any written 
engagement, or conform to the present prac- 
tise of receiving a document of this kind, 
and granting a kabooleat in return. Besides 
the rent derived from arable lands, there are 
Other sour- scvcral othcr sources of revenue enioved by 

ce« of rereuue. •* *' ■' 

the landholders. Of the three great immuni- 
Of Nankar, tics of Naukar, Bunkar, and Julkar, (literally 

Bunkar, aud i -i i i ■ 

juikar. bread, wood, and water) which were allowed 

to Zemindars during the Moghul administra- 
tion, the last two yield a considerable profit on 
some estates. Waste lands are let out in 
farm to persons who cut grass, reeds and 
brushwood for fodder, thatching and fuel, but 

Bunkar. iu some instances the right of Bunkar is en- 
joyed by persons, who are not the proprietors 
of the soil. The numerous rivers, and mo- 

juikar. rasses abound with fish, and the Juikar, or 
revenue arising from this aource, is often of 
cfhsiderable amount. Jheels are let at rates 
varying from 5 to 500 rupees according to 
their extent. The fishermen, called Jerattee 
ryotts, pay according to the extent of their 
boundaries on a river, or to the number of 
persons employed in their boats, while in 
many places a consolidated rent for bheetee 
lands, and for the right of fishing is charged. 
During the season of inundation, when the 
fishin;; localities on rivers become less valu- 
able, Jerattee ryotts pay a small rent, and at 
this season fishermen plying their occupation 
in parts of the country, where they paid no 
Juikar previously, are distinguished by the 
name of ** Bhassanea ryotts,'' and pay a tax 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 153 

equal to the rent of the Jerattee ryotts. The 
right of fishing on inundated lauds '^Kala- 
panee," is often distinct from that on conti- 
guous rivers, and occasionally belongs as in 
the case of Bunkar, to persons who are not 
the proprietors of the soil. The persons, who Another 

* * r ' source of re- 

purchase fish from the fishermen, to supply »cnue to the 

the bazars in the city, pay a tax to the Ze- 
mindars, which is equal to the amount of 
rent paid by the Jerattee ryotts. Ferries, and Ferrie* and 
hauts, or weekly markets, also yield a con- 
siderable revenue to the proprietors of land. 
The other sources of revenue are taxes on 
pan gardens and sugar mills, presents or nuz- pan gardens 
zurs at the Pooneeah, or day of annual settle- muu"S.'^&c; 
ment, at marriages, &c. and fines imposed in 
cases of disputes, and quarrels referred to the 
Zemindar for settlement. 

Talookdars. — The Dacca district, like mos# 
of the frontier ones subject to invasion, was 
subdivided at an early period of the Moghul 
Government, into a number of small estates 
or Talooks, which were granted by the Nu- Taiooks ai. 
waubs to persons employed to defend the Numiubf for 
province. The greater number of these es- nance of '"iw 
tates were assigned for the maintenance of ^ ' 
the fleet, and were included under the Jaghire 
of "Omleh Nowarrah." The Talookdars, xbeTuk*mee 
who are distinguished by the name of" Tuks- Talookdars. 
mee" in the records of the district, are those 
whose lands were specified in the Toomaree 
Jumma or rent roll prepared by Torel Mull 
in the year 1588 ; and who, from having a 

u 



154 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

proprietary right in the soil, were afterwards 
made independent. To collect the revenue 
with greater ease, a number of small adjoin- 
ing Talooks were originally put under the 
charge of the most considerable Talookdars 
amongst them, who collected their rents, and 
paid them along with his own to Government. 
From whence From this circumstancc, he was called ** Zim- 

the title of Ze. ' 

midar deriyed. mahdar" Or Jemadar (from zimmah, charge ;) 
and his own Talook, to distinguish it from 
the others whose revenues he was the coUec- 
. tor, was called *' Neez, or own," and consti- 
tuted the only real property belonging to 
him^ and which, in the event of his trans- 
ferring the rights of his Zimmadarship, he 
could dispose of, or that could be claimed by 
Originally jjj^ purchascr. There were originally four 

four descrip- » ^ ^ 

tion ofTaiook- dcscriptious of Talookdars, besides a renter 
junjriebooree called Howalladar in this district, l^t-^un- 

Talookdars. 

^gkbooree Talookdars. They were persons 
who undertook to clear jungle lands before 
the country was divided into Tuppahs. When 
the Tuxeembundy was made, the. newly cul- 
tivated lands were considered Talooks, and 
were included in the rent roll of the nearest 
Zemindar. If any increase or remission was 
granted to the Zemindar by Government a 
proportional part fell to the Talookdar. The 
property was hereditary, but if the Talookdar 
died without issue, the Zemindar became the 
manager of the estate on the part of Govern- 
zur.Khc- ment. 3d — Zurkhereed Talookdars. The land 

reed Talook- 
dars. holders under this denomination were at 

liberty to sell their Talooks without the per- 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 155 

mission of the Zemindar, but on failure of 
heirs, the Zemindar could take possession, 
and sell the lands or keep them as he might 
be inclined : they were entitled to remission 
or subject to increase proportionally with Ze- 
mindars, and agreeably to their respective 
amounts of rent. 3d — Pottah Talookdars. Pottah Ta. 
The Zemindars and Chowdries could grant '"""""• 
hereditary Talookdaree pottahs to any person 
for lands belonging to themselves, whether 
cultivated or uncultivated, in which pottah it 
wais stipulated that the Talookdars should 
have possession of the whole lands agreed on, 
and that the management should descend to 
his heirs for ever, but this Talookdar could 
neither sell nor make over by deed of gift the 
lands of his Talook, nor could the Zemindar 
dispose of it, but on the failure of issue it re- 
verted to the latter. Pottah Talookdars were 
subject to remissions, and increases of revenue; 
along with the Zemindar. 4th — WassutTa- WassutTa- 
lookdars. They stood in the same relation to 
other Talookdars that Zurkhereed Talookdars 
did to Zemindars. 5th — Howalladars. In Howaiiadara 
Bickrampore and the southern parts of the d is- ^' 
trict, the purchaser of a portion of a Talook 
was called a Howalladar of the land he thus 
held. He paid his rent to the Talookdar, but 
if a dispute arose between them, they sepa- 
rated, and the property was included in some 
other Talookdaree lands. The property was 
hereditary and transferable, and the owner 
subject to encrease and remission of revenue 
with other renters. Most of the Talooks of 



156 TOPOGRAPHV OP DACCA. 

this district are divided into small detached 
portions of land, which are not unfrequently 
Tot^ "«™- scattered over many pergunnahs. The total 
dars. number of Talookdars in this Collectorate in 

the year 1836-37 amounted to 7154, of whom 
7025 paid their revenue into the Dacca 
Cutcherry, and 149 into the Cutcherry at 
Pureed pore. 

The following table shews the different 
rates of revenue of the Talooks connected 
with the Dacca Cutcherry. 



Different 
rates of reve- 



No. of Talooks. Rates paid by each Talook. 

2 pay from 1 to 12 pie. 

nuepaidbytbe f'^ ' I to 8 annas. 

Taliokdafi. ^f^ ' ? »""" ° ,i "P^^; 

d743 „ 1 rupee to 10 rupees. 

1310 10 ditto to 25 ditto. 

624 „ 25 ditto to 50 ditto. 

295 „ 50 ditto to 100 ditto. 

193 ,» 100 ditto to 250 ditto. 

60 , 250 ditto to 500 ditto. 

22 , 500 ditto to 1000 ditto. 

Total 7025 Rs. 141156 12 I 



Zemindars. Zemindars. — The number of Zemindars 

compared to that of Talookdars, is small ia 

At tbe de. this district. At the time of the Decennial 

mrnt%ia1med Settlement, many of this class of landholders 

landf.^' *® '**• did not possess a foot of ground in the district, 

yet they claimed a right to the lands, and 

were allowed the usual russoom or fee in the 

Originally Mehals uuder their management. The Ze- 

who*exerdsed miudars of this district were originally Teh- 

Maguuiitei.*^^ sildars, and according to the Sunnuds or 

commissions given them by the Moghul 

Government, they exercised the office of Ma* 

gistrates or Justices of the Peace, and were 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 157 

liable for the restitution or value of any 
property, that happened to be stolen, within 
their respective, jurisdictions. During the 
time that they were entrusted with this autho- i„ ^j^j^.,, 
rity by the Company, the district suffered Sl^relnefficl^ 
greatly from their inefiiciency. Decoits be- wonh^lf wu. 
came very numerous, and so daring, that it fi^«"<^«' 
was not safe to venture beyond the city ; and 
in several instances, the Zemindars them- 
selves were found to be in league with these 
robbers, and were the receivers of the stolen 
property. Many of the Zemindars were ori- ^j^ny landi 
ginally allowed to hold lands exempt from ^^'^.f^^ ^^"^ 
revenue, on condition of their furnishing boats J^"Sng°^ 
and men to oppose the Mughs in their in- ("^oToBeThe 
cursions into the district, and the lands so ^"^**'" 
held were called " Nowarrah." The Zemin- 
dars, who engaged to go in person on these 
expeditions, were allowed to hold a still 
greater proportion of land, in consideration of 
their personal services ; and these grants. Those who 
though included under the general name of were"Xwed 
Nowarrah, were distinguished by the specific n"^|" *™""" 
term, " Hissazaut," or by a term expressing 
the extent of country or river, which they 
undertook to guard. The condition of the coi.ditioti of 
Zemindars of the present day appears to be grea^yTm"^'" 
greatly improved, compared to what it was fhTp'tmrn^nt 
prior to the permanent settlement. According •«"^e™«»t- 
to Mr. Day, the Collector, in 1788, " there was in nss 
not a man of wealth or credit among them cmI*arV"<iiffi- 
at that time, and he mentions that during ^"^'***' 
his residence of fifteen years in the district, 
he never heard of a Zemindar or any other 



158 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



The cause. 



Mode of 
raising money. 



Their pre- 
sent cooditiou. 



Present CAUf e 
of pecuniary 
embarrass- 
menCa. 



Quarrela 
among the 
shareholdera 
of au estate. 



renter having credit with the merchants in 
the city except on mortgaging their lands* 
Their difficulties arose principally from their 
leaving the management of the collections to 
Naibs, who committed every kind of abuse, 
and enriched themselves at the expense of 
their employers. The common mode of rais- 
ing money at this time was by mortgaging 
their estates to the Shroffs for double or treble 
the amount borrowed, under an engagement 
" that the produce of the lands should be 
simply considered as the interest of the loan, 
and the land only restorable but on the pay- 
ment of the amount principal." The Zemin- 
dars in the present day, are in very different 
circumstances from those here represented. 
Many of them residing in the city are men 
of wealth, and the greater number of them 
at least derive incomes from their estates^ 
which enable them to live in affluence. 
The pecuniary embarrassments, in which the 
few are placed, are chiefly occasioned by 
disputes among the Zemindars themselves, 
which lead to the keeping up of an expensive 
establishment of servants, to expensive law 
suits, and the desertion of ryotts. Disagree- 
ment among the shareholders of an estate, 
frequently terminating in hostile opposition 
to each other, is here one of the chief causes 
of their poverty, and from the difficulty and 
expense attending the separation of the shares 
of a Zemindaree, it leads in a majority of in- 
stances, to the sale of the property for arrears 
of Government revenue. The loss occasion- 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 159 

ed by the change in the course of rivers can- .The course* 

y ^ of rivers being 

not easily be estimated, some estates suffering: <^?»»n«' ** ^o^e- 

•^ , O timeH a benefit 

from their encroachments, others being bene- "if "• <>'»'"« 

^ a loss to the 

fitted by an accession of soil, while in some Zemindars. 

parts, lands are depreciated, and in others, 

increased in value by the filling up of their 

channels. The common mode of borrowing 

money among Zemindars is by letting their 

lands in Izarah or farm for a certain time, but 

the total quantity of land held on this kind 

of tenure, here, is small, compared with what 

it is in other districts. The Zemindars, pay- -^^""J**'' «f 

% ^ r J Zemindars 

inff revenue above 1 ,000 rupees, (as res^istered ?*>»"« ''^^f- 

^ . ""** exceeding 

in the CoUectorate records in 1836-37) amount ^^oo rupees. 
to sixty-three in number, of whom forty are 
Hindoos, twenty Mussulmauns, and three 
Christians. Of the former eleven are Brah- 
mins, eight Bhaids, fourteen Khaistyas and 
seven Sudras. 

The establishment of servants required to servants 
collect the rents and keep the accounts of an cXcHng Ihe 
estate varies according to its extent, situation miJlJarec.^^ 
and number of shareholders. In some per- 
gunnahs or estates, several villages are an- 
nexed and are called a Tuppah ; in others, a 
Jowar. In every M owza or village, there is 
a servant called Mundul,* whose business it TheMundui. 

1111 1 and bis duties. 

IS to superintend the lands, and to settle dis- 
putes among the ryotts regarding them : and 
over two or three villages or a Tuppah there ThePutwa^ 

, ree, and bis 

is stationed a Putwaree,t whose ofiice it is to iuiiei. 

* Known also by tbe names of Sander, Pansoy, Huldar or Shama. 
i Ditto Itmaindar, Shikdar Subraidar or Tuppahdar, 



160 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

draw out the accounts, collect the revenues, 

and adjust differences referred to him, regard- 

4«?Jl'rperson '^^S t^© allotment of 'land. In the more ex- 

emS:^"^ tensive estates, there is an officer of a still 

higher grade, who is called Chuckladar or 

Tehsildar, and who exercises the same kind 

of controul over the Putwarees, that they have 

over their subordinates the Munduls. All the 

accounts are prepared and delivered over to 

the Zemindar or his Naib, who makes over 

such as relate to the assessment to a M ohurer 

The accjounrs or Writer called " Theetnuvees," and such as 

miide over to a rcfcr to the collcctious and expenditure to 

Ootpern'iiveM auothcr Writer called " Ootpernuvees,'' and 

riract8°o1r * " these two persons having arranged the several 

accounts of their respective departments form 

abstracts of the whole called " Ehsaf His- 

5ab ;" belonging to these two offices, there are 

several other servants as a treasurer, a poddar 

orber «er. or teller of mouev, a letter writer, &c. Bv 

vants belong- "^ ^ J 

iiig to tbeHe way of chcck the Zemindar visits his estate. 

two offices. ' 

at least once a year, or deputes a trustworthy 
Aumeen to make a survey of the lands, and 
measure such as may be considered necessa- 
ry. Besides the above establishment, the 
The Zemin, principal Zemindars have a Dewan, and a 

dar vi«it8 hia ^7-1,, 

estate yearly. Vakeel and attomics to manage their business 

at the Zillah Courts, and generally an attor- 

A Dewan and ^^y ^' ^^^ ^^ ^^ police thanuahs connected 

uchrd\o Mch ^^^ ^^ estate. A Jemadar and a number 

mllldM^Jf*' of Burkindazes or Paiks are employed to 

biishment. guard the Cutcherries on the Zemindaree, to 

assist the collectors of rent in troublesome 

villages, and to convey money from the per- 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 161 

gunnahs to the residence of the Zemindar or 

to the Sudder station. The petty Talookdars The petty Xi- 

generally employ one Mundul, and collect the Uct the reve-" 

revenues themselves without the assistance of ,eives. * 

a Putwaree : or three or four join and have a 

Putwaree among them. In some estates the 

Mundulsand Putwarees receive their wages 

in money, in others in land and money. In 

many instances they follow other occupations, 

and are paid at a rate varying from two and 

half to three rupees a year for the Mundul, and TheMnnduit 

rt .1 , . /» ^1 andPutwareeii 

from three to ten rupees a year for the paid in money 
Putwaree. In parts of the district subject to ?." w"'or'"'* 
inundation, they are allowed boat hire from ^^^^ 
June to November. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Arts of Weaving, Embroidety, Bleaching^ 
* Gold and Silver Work, Manufacture of Shell 
Bracelets — List of Professions, Trades and 
Occupatiofis in the City — Commerce — De- 
cline of Commerce. 

Of the several arts practised in the city and 

■ 

district, the principal are weaving, embroi- 
dery, bleaching, gold and silver work, and the 
manufacture of shell bracelets. 

Weaving. — Dacca has long been celebrated Weaving. 
for its muslins* These fabrics were known 

w 



162 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA', 

Mntiini in Europe in the first century of the Chris- 

Kiiuwn in . ^ 

Europe at tian era, and according to some writers thev 

g Yery curly 

period. Constituted the " serioe vestes" which were 

80 highly prized by the ladies of Imperial 
Rome, in the days of its luxury and refine- 
ment.* Pliny in enumerating the imports 
from Egypt and Arabia mentions the Bengal 
muslins, and the author of the ^^ Circumna- 
yigation of the Erythrean Sea"t bears testi- 
mony to their extreme fineness and transpa- 
rency4 In this work, which is supposed 
to have been written by Arrian, an Egyptian 
Greek, mention is made of several kinds of 
Indian muslins, which are distinguished by 
commercial names§ derived from the country. 
The word **Carpassus" which is employed 
to designate the fine Bengal muslins is obvi- 
ously derived from the Sanscrit " Kurpass" 
or Hindee ^' Kapass" cotton ; and hence the 
term *• Carpassium" or Carpassian, which 
came into use in the time of Pliny, to denote 
all the very fine kinds of cloth that were 
then manufactured, whether of cotton, flax 
or asbestos. II The word, however, as used by 
Arrian and the Egyptian traders generally 

* SalmBsiui ** Exercitationes Plinianice,'* and Dr. Ure on ** Cotton 
AJanufacture of Great Britain," 1836. 

t Periplus Maris Erythrioe. 

\ Scv^ovcc cu Sla^ofpoirarai ai Fayyimcai \tyfmtvai The 
veatesborobycincetenuespeUucidoeserriffi were bo tliia ** at tranaluceret" 
tbat the body abone tbrougb tbem — P/tny. 

§ Molocbina, or coarse muslins. Monacbi, wide mosliihs of a fine 
description. Zudaion, coarse doth.— i>r. Ftncenl*! Troift^^toii e^ 

PmpJMt. 

II Linum Carpasiium of Pliny was the fine flax of Spain. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. IflS 

took its origin, in all probability, from>' Ca- 
passia," the country from whence these muslins 
were exported ; and which, as has already 
been mentioned, was the principal seat of Mentioned 
this manufacture in early times.* In the boromedan^' 
*^ accounts of India and China by two Mo- "^^ *"' 
hommedan travellers in the 9th century," 
mention is also made of the fine cotton cloths 
of India, and from the notice of certain circum- 
stances connected with the country in which 
they were manufactured, it is very evident 
that the Dacca muslins are the fabrics that 
are alluded to. After mentioning the rich 
possessions and great number of elephants 
belonging to the King of the country, the 
travellers state, '' In this same country they 
make cotton garments in so extraordinary a 
manner that no where else are the like to be 
seen. These garments are for the most part 
round, and wove to that degree of fineness 
that they may be drawn through a ring of 
middling size. Shells (^) are current in this 
country and serve for small money, notwith- 
standing they have gold and silver and aloes (^) 
and sable skins (^) of which they make fur- 
niture of saddles and housings. In this same 
country is the famous karkadur or uni- 
CQrn."(*)t The Empress Noor Jehan greatly 

* Thif part of the district which is now in a great measure overrun 
with jungle, abounds with the dry beds of tanko, &c. which shew that 
it was at one period the seat of a dense and busy population. 

t " Accounts of India and China by two Mahommedan traTeUert,** 
trannlated by Abbe Froissart. 

(<) Cowries — {*) Aggur Wood— (') otter 8kina-.(^) Rhinoceros, at 

appeani frum a subsequent paragraph. 



164 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 



The manu- 
facture of 
Dacca muftl ins 
encouraged by 
Noor J eh an 
and acquire 
great cele- 
brity. 



And con- 
tinue to main- 
tain their cete* 
brity. 



Acknow- 
ledged to be 
auperior to 
the produc- 
tionii of the 
loom of any 
country. 



encouraged the manufactures of the country,*" 
and under her patronage the Dacca muslins 
acquired great celebrity. They became at 
this time, the fashionable dress of the Omrah 
at the Imperial and Vice-regal Courts of 
Hindostan, while the finer fabrics, so exqui- 
sitely delicate,, as to be styled in the figurative 
language of the East " webs of woven wind," 
*- abroan,"^ running water, or " shubnem," 
morning dew,t were exclusively appropriated 
to adorn the inmates of the seraglios. Through- 
out succeeding times the Dacca muslins have 
maintained their high reputation, and even in 
the present day, notwithstanding the great 
perfection which the art of weaving has at- 
tained in Britain, these fabrics are unrivalled, 
and in point of transparency, beauty and de- 
licacy of texture are allowed to excel the most 
finished productions of the loom in any coun- 
try in the world. ** Yarn continues to be spun, 
and muslins to be manufactured at Dacca." 
Dr. Ure writes in 1836 " to which European 
ingenuity can afford no parallel, such 
indeed as has led a competent judge to say 
it is beyond his conception, how this yarn 
greatly finer than the highest number made 
in England can be spun by the distaff 
and spindle, or woven afterwards by any 
machinery .J 



The finer ^11 the fiuc musUus are made of the desee 

muniini made 

oi the desee or indit^cnous cotton of the district. The cot- 
cotton. ° 

. * ** Cotton manufactures of Britain by Dr. Ure.^* 
t Tasikb Kbafy Khan. 
% 5o named, from being, when wet, not discernible from eitber. 



The Arra- 
can cutton 
next in vtlue. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 165 

ton imported from Mirzapore yields the thread The cotton 
for the baftas, hummums and other assort- ^ ^^^p^'^- 
m^nts of cloth of an inferior quality. The 
Arracan cotton ranks next to the Mirzapore : 
it is imported in small quantities, but is never 
used, as has been represented, in the manufac- 
ture of the fine muslins. Bhoga cotton, the The Bboira 
produce of the Garrow and Tipperah hills, is excCivdy for 

1 1 1 • 1 !• xu i» ^ /.the coarfesc 

employed exclusively tor the manufacture of deBcnptiou of 
the coarsest description of cloths, which are 
worn by the poorer classes. The importation 
of these different kinds of cotton has greatly 
diminished, however since the influx of Bri- 
tish yarn into the district, and probably does 
not amount to one-sixtieth of the quantity im- 
ported in 1787. The cotton is cleaned by the cotitm 

cie&ned bv 

women who spin the thread. The instru- the women. 
ments which are used to separate the seeds useT to "^epa" 
from the wool are the cherkee and duUun from\hewoor. 
cathee. The former is the common hand scriptloii. ** 
mill, or pair of fluted cylinders, which is in use 
throughout the country, and which is employ- 
ed here to clean cotton for the second rate 
qualities of thread. The duUun cathee is The Daiiun 
used to clean small quantities of the material on lhe^ame 
for the finest thread. It is simply an iron fhe^Mahamta 
pin that is rolled upon a flat board, upon ™*^^"**'- 
which the cotton is laid ; and which is made 
a little thicker at its middle than at the ex- 
tremities, which project beyond the sides of 
the board, so as to admit of its being worked or 
rolled by the hands or feet. It is on the same 
principle as the Maharatta machine which 



166 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

has been described by Dr. Lush of Bombay, 
and of which there is an engraving in the 
" papers on cotton, &c," lately published by 
the Court of Directors. The only difference 
between the two implements consists in a 
board being used here instead of the stone 
slab, which is employed in the Maharatta 
country. About Dacca, the duUun cathee is 
of a small size, and is worked with the hands, 
but in Mymensing the roller is moved by the 
feet, which are protected by wooden soles, 
similar to those used in the Maharatta coun- 
Said to in- try. The dullun cathee is said to crush the 
o7*iho^o^?on fibre, less than the mill. The next step is 
less ibaii the ^^ ^^g^^e the cotton, or to free it from the 

remains of husks. This is done by means of 

a small bow made of bamboo, with a string 

Further of catgut or moouga silk. In the town there 

IlIdopTd to ar^ ^ few persons, who make the bowing of 

urhusks."' cotton a distinct trade, but what they clean, 

is never used for the manufacture of thread, 

but is exclusively applied to the manufacture 

of quilts and articles of winter clothing for 

, Mode of the M ussulmauns. The cotton that is used 

carding tfhe /• i /» i 

cotton when a for the fincst thread, undergoes a carding 
required. bcforc it is tcazcd or bowed. The instrument, 
which is employed for this purpose, is the 
dried jaw bone of the Boali fish (Silurus 
Boalis.) This part forms an arch about 2 
inches in diameter, and presents on its inner 
surface a great number of very fine recurved 
teeth : it is used in the manner of a comb, 
and allows only the fine fibres of the cotton 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA i 167 

to pass through it. After this process of 
carding, the cotton is reduced to a state of 
downy fleece by means of the bow ; and is 
then carefully spread out upon the smooth 
surface of the dried skin of a Cheetul or 
Cuchia fish. This is next rolled up into a 
small cylindrical case, which is held in the 
band during the process of spinning. 

AH' the thread is spun by women, who 
generally employ their leisure hours in the 
business. The coarser kinds, consisting of rmrserkind 
the Bhoga and other inferior qualities of cot- spun wuh the 
ton below No. 30 of English yarn, are manu- ^**"'^^"- 
factured by the churkhee or wheel ; but all 
above that number, are spun with the tukwa 
or spindle. A tukwa for the finest quality of The finer by 
thread, is a fine polished steel spindle about 
ten inches in length, and of the size of a large 
needle ; with a small ball of clay attached to 
it, about an inch from its lower extremity. Manner 
It is held in an inclined position, with its point spindle. 
resting upon the hollow surface of a broken 
cowrie shell or a piece of turtle's egg imbed- 
ded in a small mass of clay, which serves as 
B stand for it : and is revolved between the 
finger and thumb, while the cotton, which is 
held in the left hand, is gradually raised from 
it, and the filaments, as they are drawn out, 
are formed into a thread. This is the mode 
of spinning that is practised here, by which, 
a person expert at the business can form a 
thread upwards of four miles in length from 



168 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

one rupee or sicca's (180 grains) weight of 
Tbcbestspin- cotton. The bcst spinners are Hindoo women 

Item Hindoo '' 

women. from 18 to 30 years of age. After 30 they 
begin to fall off, and at 40 their sight is gene- 
rally impaired, and they are incapable of 
spinning very fine thread. They usually 
work in the morning and afternoon, when the 
light is less dazzling to the eyes, and there is 
moisture in the air to prevent the thread from 
breaking. *' The cause of the perfection of 
the muslin manufacture of India," as Dr: 
Ure observes, *• must be sought for in the 
exquisitely fine organization of the natives of 
the east. Their temperament realizes every 
feature of that described under the title ner- 
vous by physiologists." The depressing pas- 
sions, I may further remark, materially 
influence their handiwork, the most expert 
spinners being incapable, while suffering from 
grief or any domestic affliction, of manufac- 
turing even the second rate qualities of thread. 
Spwimcn of There is a specimen of Dacca thread in the 

8t the India Muscum at the India House, which was pre- 
sented to it many years ago by Sir Charles 
Wilkins ; and which has been much admired 
for its fineness. It was weighed and mea- 
sured by the late Sir Joseph Banks, and was 
found to be in the proportion of 115 miles, 2 
furlongs and 60 yards to the pound avoirdu- 
poise of cotton.* Thread however has been 
spun in England of the length of 167 miles 

* Baines' '* History of Cotton Manufactures." 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 169 

to the pound weight of staple, but this yam, 
which ranks as No. 350, is of too great a 
tenuity to be manufactured or woven into 
muslins in Britain. The finest, that muslins The finest 
are ever made of there, is No. 250, which is wbicb imiBiini 
in the proportion only 119^ miles to the made! "^'^ 
pound weight t>f cotton, though it is seldom 
that a number above 220 is used. No. 250 
has been imported into Dacca, and muslins 
have been made of it ; but it falls far short of 
the finest quality of native thread. Thread The finest 
is spun here, and can be woven into muslin, uMd^l/oaccI 
which is in the proportion of 7200 yards ^^' ^**^*"«- 
to 1 tolah or 180 grains weight of cotton, 
or upwards of 160 miles to a pound of the 
staple. I had lately in my possession a spe- specimen 

/• .1 • 1 . J 1 • 1 • toofv in the aoihor'f 

cimen ot this kmd which was spun m 1837. possession. 
It was very carefully weighed and measured 
and was found to be 200 yards in length, and 
5 grains in weight. The Dacca thread is Dacca 
generally allowed to be softer than English rrai^Than 
mule twist, and the cloths made of it, it is *^"«i*«^ 
well known, are much more durable, although 
from imperfect bleaching, they do not always 
look so well as the English muslins. It is 
said to be irregularly twisted, and that it ap- 
pears under the microscope like an ill-made 
hair rope bristling with loose strands. The 
filaments vary in their diameter from toVtt ^^ 
t^Vtt of a^ inch, and are flat and ribbon-shaped. 
It is on this shape of the filaments in their ,,Sirp"e^^^^^ 
separate state, that the transparency of the ,f„,^'^''* "*"•' 
Dacca muslins depends, and it is said, that if 



1 70 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

they were more closely twisted they would 

form an opaque yarn like the British thread. 

American The morc cvUndrico-spiral, the longer and 

cotton not re- . "^ ir ' o 

ported favor- morc clastic the filaments of cotton are, the 

ably on by the , 

Dacca spin- better adapted they appear to be for manu- 



nera 



facture by machinery, and less suited for spin- 
ning with the fingers. Accordingly the Ame- 
rican cotton, which possesses these several 
apinni"/a?. q^^li^ies, is wcll adapted for the British 
forded em- looms, but cauuot bc manufactured into the 

p/oyment to 

all ranks. .finest thread here. A small quantity of Sea 
cW^dlu^J^' Island cotton, which was sent to the Commer- 
tioVof British ^^^^ Resident in 1811 was subjected to a trial 
y»™' and the result was unfavourable, the spinners 

not being able to make good thread of it, 
and pronouncing it to be unfit for the manu- 
factures of the Dacca aurungs. The spin- 
ning of thread afforded employment to all 
ranks and classes of the inhabitants of the 
district in former times. This branch of in- 
dustry began to be afiected in 1824, when 
British yarn was first imported into the dis- 
trict, and since 1 828 it has been in a rapidly 
declining state. Most of the cloths, that are 
now manufactured here, are made of British 
twist ranging from No. 30 up to No. 200. 
Numbers 60, 70 and 80 are principally used. 
The following is a comparative statement of 
the difierent numbers of English twist usually 
imported into Dacca, and of the correspond- 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA- 



HI 



ing qualities of country thread, with the 
prices of each kind. 



ja 


Weight of Country 


Price of ^ of a 


Price of 1 of a 


•y^ 


thread correspond- 


Murah or 1 and 


Morah or 1 and 


of Enj 
thread. 


ing to 


the English 


lofa Hank of 
English thread. 


j of a Hank of 


numbers. 


Country thread. 




Siccas. 


As. 


Gds. 


Rs. 


As. 
3 


Gds. 


Rs. 



As. 


Gds. 


200 
















13 





190 







16 





2 


15 





10 





]80 




I 


15 





2 


15 





6 





^170 




2 


16 





2 


10 





5 





160 




4 








2 


10 





4 





150 




5 


7 





2 


10 





3 


10 


140 




6 


17 





2 


5 





3 





130 




8 


12 





2 


5 





3 





120 




10 


13 







15 





2 


15 


110 




13 


5 







15 





2 





100 


2 













5 





2 





90 


2 


3 


11 







5 





I 


15 


80 


2 


8 










5 








15 


70 


2 


12 










a 





1 


15 


60 


3 


5 


5 










2 





60 


4 













5 





2 





40 


5 













H 





2 





90 


6 


10 










10 





2 






Comparative 
statement of 
prices between 
English twist 
and of country 
thread. 



The English thread, independent of its English 
cheapness, will always be preferred by the Ie"*by^the^'' 
natives, on account of its uniform size, and "*^*^®»" 
the facility of obtaining any quantity of a 
particular quality that may be required. 
To procure country thread of a certain quality Difficulty 
is a task attended with considerable labour comuryTbrfad 
and expense ; it can only be done by visiting quaiuy,^*""" 
the different marts in the district, and it is 
estimated that two-thirds of the time occupied 
in preparing the fine muslins, are spent in 
searching for thread suited for the manufac- 
ture. 



172 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 



Number of Thcrc are about thirty-six different kinds 
kinds of cloth of cloth manufactured in the district, and it 
manu ac . j^ estimated that of the whole quantity made, 
6-8thsare manufactured of English twist, rang- 
ing between numbers 30 and 200 : one and 
made of £ng. half of an eighth of country thread below 
country No. 30 aud ouc half of an eighth of fine 
country spun thread above No. 200 of English 
yarn. The muslins that are manufactured of 
thread, above the latter number, consist of 
plain fabrics which are generally made to 
order, and are called "mulmul khas." It is 
said that in the time of Jehangire a piece of 
Abrowa muslin could be manufactured, mea- 
suring 10 cubits in length, by 2 cubits in 
breadth, and weighing only 5 siccas or 900 
grains, the price of which was 400 rupees. 
The finest that can be made in the present 
day, of the same dimensions as the above, 
weighs about 9 siccas or 1600 grains, and is 
Flowered, sold at 100 rupecs. Flowered, spotted, striped 
ed^a^d' chec- ^ud chequcrcd muslins are manufactured in 
quered mu8* Considerable quantities. The finer descriptions 
cripiro*!i/of ^^ flowered or Jamdanee muslins are made 
iinr*midT"o'f ^^ country thread, but a large proportion is 
country thread. ^Iso manufactured of No. 200 of English twist. 
Sent to the na- They are sent to Oude, and the different 
Hindofiian. nativc courts of Hiudostan, but the whole 
quantity annually manufactured does not 
exceed one lac of rupees in value. This ma- 
nufacture appears to have been introduced 
by the Mussulmans, and is still chiefly in 
their hands. During the Moghul Govern- 



TOPOGKAPHY OF DACCA. 173 

ment, the weavers of Jamdanee muslins paid The weavert 
a tax, and were prohibited from selling cloths taxed. 
above a stated value to foreign merchants. 
A large proportion of the cloths, manufi^c* 
tured of English thread, are plain fabrics, 
which are embroidered in the city, and ex* 
ported annually to the Persian Gulf and the 
Red Sea. Cloths are also made of cotton ciothmade 
and tussur silk, and of plain and coloured tnd%uMuf'''' 
thread mixed, and constitute about one-eighth •*^'^- 
of the manufactures of the district. All these 
different kinds of cloth are distinguished by j,^^^^ ^.^^ 
names denoting the fineness of their texture, ^*""i^jh^8^^i« 
their pattern, the origin of their manufacture, tinguiehed by 

^ ' ^ names denot- 

or the uses to which they are applied as >»« '^eir tex- 

* * ture, &c. 

" Abroan runnmg water, and Shubnem, or 
night dew," as being when wet not discerni- 
ble from either ; ** JDoorea or double threads," 
" Charkonna or chequered," " Circar Ali or 
the Newaub's household," &c. 

The mode of weaving is much the same 
as that practised in other parts of the country. 
The process is rude enough, though, it may 
be observed, it is not quite so simply con- 
ducted as European travellers have described 
it to be. The weaver, instead of erecting The wea. 
his loom under the shade of the nearest tree, p^e* Ws^oorn 
as he is generally represented to do, always ^^^" *'**^'**'^' 
plies his business under the roof of his own 
dwelling, or under a shed raised for the pur- 
pose. To admit sufficient light, the hut is 
open on all sides : a pit is dug in the floor, to 
afford room for the lower part of the gear, and 



174 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



Number of 
implements 
used in manu- 
facturiog mus- 
lins. 



Principally 
composed of 
bamboo and 
reed and very 
simple. 



Mode of 
dressing the 
thread and 
forming the 
Warp. 



Separating 
the warps. 



The Shuttle. 



for the weaver's legs as he sits at work, and 
above the loom he erects a sort of canopy, 
consisting of a mat or two supported on four 
bamboos to protect the web, from dust and 
rain dropping from the roof. The total num- 
ber of implements used in converting the raw 
material into thread, and weaving the latter 
into the finest muslin is said to amount to 126. 
They are all made of small pieces of bamboo 
or reed tied together with twine or thread, and 
are of a style of workmanship so rude and 
simple that almost every weaver can make 
them himself, although to save time and trou- 
ble they are usually sold ready made in the 
bazars. The thread is dressed with starch 
made of parched rice, and after exposure to 
the sun for some time is wound ofi* upon two 
small wheels, which are held by the weaver, 
one in each hand, as he forms the warp. 
This latter operation is done between four 
bamboo stakes driven into the ground. An 
instrument like a comb is used to separate 
the threads of the warp, every alternate 
thread of which passes through a correspond- 
ing loop or ring of a thread chain which is 
connected with the gear above and the 
treadles below. There are two of these 
chains of thread loops which are attached, 
one to each treadle, and by means of which 
the threads of the warp are alternately raised 
and depressed, to allow the shuttle to pass 
between them. This latter implement it may 
be mentioned, is not so sharp pointed as the 
English shuttle, and instead of having a fixed 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 175 

bobbin inside, the thread of the woof is wound 
upon a small piece of reed which revolves 
upon an iron pin or wire. The most favour- The rainj 
able time for weaving the fine muslins, is fewiUfor 
during the rains, at which season the moisture fine TusUil!^ 
in the atmosphere prevents the thread from 
breaking. In dry hot weather, it is requisite, i" «te hot 

. 1 /• /• 1 • »ea80ii water 

while weaving the finest fabrics, to have «»ed to keep 
beneath the web shallow vessels of water, the moUL 
evaporation from which keeps the warp 
moist, and it appears to have been from this 
circumstance, that the idea of the Dacca 
muslins being fabricated in water, originated.* 
Most of the weavers are Hindoos. They wearen 

-i_ 1 • T • Tx TV mostly Hin* 

weave the plain muslins m Dacca, Dumroy, doos. 
Teethbadhee, Junglebaree and Sunurgong. 
At the latter place the Mussulmans who form At Suner. 
the principal body of weavers there, are en- Sufsuk^aM 

1 . • 1 • .1 • J ■%• employed on 

gaged m making the jamdanee muslins, making tha 
Coarser cloths are made by the lower castes mJitriw? 
of Hindoos and Mussulmans called Joogees 
and Joolahs. 

There is never more than two or three yards 
of the web uncovered, during the process of 
weaving. The starch used for the Shenen 
muslins is mixed with a small quantity of 
lamp black, and hence the name Sibnem 
signifying *• half dark" or twilight according 
to the weaver's interpretation. 

• On viewing the Indian yarn, it is easy to see bow from the want 
of cohesion it should require to be woven on some occasions under 
water in order to give it support as the anatomist developes filmy 
textures which float in the same medium.— C^rs on the ** Q>tUm Ma- 
nufacture of Huidottan.^ 



176 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

Embroidery Embroidery. — Next to spinning and weaving, 
tisf*d. the art of embroidering is most extensively 

•nim'ns^vrry practised here, especially by the Mussulmans, 
expert. ^j^q display in the use of the needle, a dex- 

terity fully equal to that exhibited by the 
Hindoos in their labours at the spindle and 
or darS" *^^ loom. Ruffogurs or darners are persons 
employed to repair muslins, that have been 
injured during bleaching, and also to mark 
and form the heading of cloths with gold and 
pertneBs. silvcr thread. An expert Ruffogur can re- 
move a thread the whole length of a web of 
muslin, and replace it with one of a similar 
quality. All the workmen of this class are 
opium eaters and few of them can work well, 
except when under the influence of that drug. 
The flowering of muslin dresses is performed 
Cbuckcndose. by a Set of embroiderers called " Chucken* 
dose," and the embroidering of muslins, 
scarfs and shawls with silk by workmen 
Zurdow. called " Zurdose." The latter description of 
work is highly esteemed in Europe, and is in 
a much more flourishing condition, than any 
Scarfs and Other kind of manufacture here. The scarfs 
ed. ^^^ and shawls are imported from Calcutta, and 
are worked to order chiefly for transmission to 
England. This year about 1000 have been 
manufactured, and a few I believe for her 
The flowering M ajcsty. But the principal branch of the art 
of embroidering, and the one that afibrds the 
most extensive employment to the inhabitants 
of the city, is the flowering of diffJerent kinds 
of cloth with the Moonga or Tussur silk. 
These fabrics, which are principally made of 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 177 

English twist, are called Khasseidas. They 
have the pattern of the flower that is to 
be worked, stamped upon them with a red 
dye by a class of workmen called " Cheepi- 
gurs," after which they are distributed to the 
embroiderers in the town, by persons (Oasta- 
gars and Oostanees), who contract with the 
merchants for the work, and who supply the 
embroiderers with silk and an occasional 
advance of money. The principal embroi- 
derers are Mussulmaun women of the lower 
classes, and the wives of Doobees, who devote 
the time they can spare from their usual 
domestic duties, in thus earning a little money 
for themselves and families. Embroidery ap- £mbroidery 
pears to be a favorite occupation among all luoltion^h 
rLksaadclassesof Mussulmaun women. For- ^tl^-J 
merly, when there was a greater demand for ^®"«"- 
Khasseida cloths of different kinds, than 
there is at present, females of the first families 
in the place were in the habit of eipploying 
their Leisure hours in this way, and I believe it 
is no unusual thing in Turkey in the present 
day, for ladies of distinction, including even 
those of the Sultan's seraglio, to send embroi- 
dered work to the Beresteens of Constantino- 
ple, for sale. About 20,000 pieces of Khassei- 
das ;Bire annually worked here, and are sent 
to Persia, Egypt, and Turkey, where they are 
chiefly used as turbans. A few years ago, 
Mohammet Ali Pasha imported a quantity of 
Tussur silk into Egypt, with the view of Tuunrsiik. 
establishing this manufacture in his country, 

Y 



178 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

but the experiment was unsuccessful, and after 
a short time, the article was returned and sold 
in the bazars of Calcutta. 

Breaching. The bleaching of cloths is confined to the 
northern division of the district, where the 
soil is watered by the clear branches of the 
Berhampooter. Abul Fazel mentions a place 
in the pergunnah of Sunergong as* being cele- 
brated for a reservoir of water, which gives a 
peculiar whiteness to the cloths that are wash- 
ed in it, and the natives in the present day, 
it may be mentioned, ascribe the same pro- 
perty to the water of all the wells in the 
kunkar, and clayey soil of this part of the 
^j'^hdr^mode couutry. The mode of bleaching adopted 
here is to steep the cloths in a vessel of soap 
and water, after which they are wrung out 
and spread upon a smooth field. When dry 
they are put into an earthen vessel, which id 
filled with well water drawn from a reservoir, 
and are then subjected to the process of boiling, 
which is conducted with great caution. They 
are allowed to remain in the boiler for one 
night, and next day they are beaten upon 
the washerman's board, and are then spread 
out upon the grass to dry. This alternate 
process of boiling and bleaching is repeated 
four or five times, and the last time with 
diluted lime juice. This article has always 
been used in the bleaching of muslins here. 
Tavernier mentions it as being used at Broach 
for the same purpose, and states that the 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA* 17? 

cotton goods of Bengal were sent to this 
place to be bleached, on account of the large 
meadows of lemons there. The Abbe Raynal, 
on the other hand, remarks that it is peculiar 
to the cotton cloths of India, that they can 
never be well bleached, except in the place 
where they are manufactured. Muslins, 
after they have been bleached, are subjected 
to several operations as arranging the threads 
that have been displaced during washing, 
beetling, folding, &c. The first process is done 
with a light brush made of the spines of the 
Nagphunee (Cactus Indicus). It constitutes 
a distinct trade, and is performed by a class 
of Mussulmauns called Nurdeahs. The beet- 
ling of the fine muslins is done with a large 
smooth chank shell, and the coarser kinds 
with a wooden mallet, and is performed by a 
different set of workmen. Folding the cloths 
and pressing them into bales are done by the 
Nurdeahs. 

Gold and silver work. The Dacca work- ,,^^^^ ""^ 

Sliver work. 

men employed ^ in this art, excel in filigree 
work. They make bracelets, neck chains, 
ear-rings and other ornaments, and also vel- 
sels for otta and rose water, all of which are 
sent to different parts of the country. There Number of 

* , - . persons em* 

are upwards of 300 persons engaged in this ployed. 
business in the city, besides a class of persons, 
(upwards of 60 in number) who purchase the 
dust or sweepings from the workshops, for 
the sake of the filings, which they extract by 
washing. 



180 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 



Shell brace- 
lets, manufac- 
ture of. 



Manufacture of shell bracelets. There are 
about 500 shell cutters in the town, who are 
employed tin the three distinct branches of 
this art, viz. pointing the shells, sawing them 
into rings and polishing, carving, and joining 
the different pieces. The average number of 
chank shells imported annually from Calcutta 
amounts to 300,000. Ready made bracelets 
and separate rings, elaborately carved and 
painted, are sold in large quantities in the 
city at all the great annual fairs. 



Other arts. The Other principal arts practised in the 
city and district are boat building and the 
manufacture of brass and copper articles, and 
of soap, paper, &c. 



The following is a list of the professions, 
trades and occupations of the native inhabi* 
tants of the city, as ascertained by a census 
of the population in 1838. 



Attomies. 

Bakers. 

Barbers. 

Baunburdars, or bearers of 

standards, &e. at marriages. 
Badla-wallahs, or makers of 

silver thread. 
Bhidri saj, or manufacturers of 

bidri hookahs. 
Bearers of doolies and palan- 

kins. 
Beggars. 
Bhoojawallahs, or sellers of 

parched grain. 



Blacksmiths. 
Boatmen. 
Book-binders. 

Brahmins who perform Juma- 
' nee ceremonies. 
Brokers. 
Butchers. 

Bye, or dancing women. 
Byeragees. 
Cacharoos, or makers of lac 

bracelets. 
Cage-makers. 
Card ditto. 
Carpenters. 






TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



181 



Chukendose, or workers of flow- 
ered muslins. 

Cheepigurs, or persons wbo 
stamp cloths for embroidery. 

Cheerakusb, or engravers of 
copper utensils. 

Confectioners. 

CoUeahwallahs, or cuppers. 

Cotton cleaners. 

Cow-keepers. 

Distillers and vendors of spi- 
rituous liquors. 

Domes, or carriers of dead bo- 
dies. 

Domnees, or Mussulmaun fe- 
male musicians. 

Drummers. 

Dusterbunds, or makers of tur- 
bans. 

Dustferasb, or sellers of old 
cloth. 

English writers. 

Etmamdars, or collectors of rent 

Fishermen. 

Gardeners. 

Ghaut-manjees, or boat agents. 

Glass blowers. 

Goldsmiths. 

Gorekunds, or grave diggers. 

Goroo dagneahs, or persons who 
brand cows. 

Grass-cutters. 

Grinders of wheat. 

Gyndars, or repairers of boats. 

Hackeems and koberaj, or Mus- 
sulmaun and Hindoo physi- 
cians. 



Haut-kootees, or pounders of 
bricks. 

Hausighurs, or makers of fire- 
works. 

Hog-keepers. 

Huckahs, or makers of glass 
beads. 

Juhooree, or sellers of precious 
stones. 

Idol-makers. 

Istereewallahs, or persons who 
iron clothes. 

Khassarees, or brasiers and cop- 
persmiths. 

Khundegurs, or workers inborn 
and ivory. 

Kheratees, or turners. 

Kofutgurs, or gilders. 

Koolus, or oilmen. 

Kootees, or persons who clean 
grain. 

Khorany Mollahs, or persons 
who administer oaths in pub- 
lic offices. 

Kurdhunees, or makers of waist 
strings. 

Malakars, or makers of artifi- 
cial flowers. 

Manufacturers of blankets. 

of blue vitrioL 
of candles, 
of cane chairs, 
of dholucks or 

drum3. 
of ink. 

of rope & twine, 
of sealing wax. 



i> 



w 



JJ 



J? 



99 



99 



» 



182 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 



Manufacturers of screens 

(cheekhs) for 
doors. 
n of umbrellas or 

chattahs. 
n of violins. 

Match makers. 
Merchants, including mahajans, 

traders and gooldars. 
Murseeah singers, or Chanters 

of dirges at the Hossanee 

Delaun. 
Midwives. 

Mofaurers, or writers. 
Mollahs. 

Moodees, or grocers. 
Moorgee-wallahs, or sellers of 

poultry. 
Moorakush, or persons who 

glaze paper and cloth. 
Moradars, or brokers who sell 

grain. 
Mugjee, or persons who sew 
> the borders of cloth. 
Muneeharees, or keepers- of 

stalls in the choke. 
Musicians. 

Naulbund, or farriers. 
Neelghursi or dyers of blue 

cloth. 
Nukhas, or picture sellers and 

painters. 
Nurdeas, or persons who ar- 
range the threads of muslins. 
Nychabunds, or hookah snake 

makers. 
Oostagurs and oostanees, who 



superintend the embroidery 
of kosseidas. 

Pannee- wallahs, or gold beaters. 

Pautooahs, or makers of silk 
cords for bracelets and orna- 
ments. 

Patnees, or ferrymen. 

Pensioners. 

Poddars, or money changers. 

Potters. 

Prostitutes. 

Pundits. 

Punsarees, or sellers of spices 

and drugs. 
Purtullahs, or makers of bands 

for chaprass or badges. 
Raujh, or masons. 
Ranga-wallab?, or workers in 

tin and lead. 
Rejahs, or terrace beaters. 
Ruffogurs, or darners. 
Rungrez, or dyers. 
Rungsaj, or house, boat and 

palankin painters. 
Sankharees, or shell cutters. 
Sanghurs, or cutlers. 
Sawyers. 
Seekligurs, or polishers of 

steel. 
Sellers of attar and perfumed 
oils. 

jy of bamboos. 

9, of caps. 

„ of charcoal and hookah 
gools. 

„ of firewood. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



183 



99 



» 



JJ 



Sellers of flour, 
of fruit 
of lime. 

of ditto for pan leaf, 
of misee or tooth pow- 
der, 
of muddud or prepara* 

tions of opium, 
of paper. 

of pattarabs or baskets, 
of pattee, or fine mats 

for seats and beds, 
of sboes. 
of straw, 
of taree. 
of tobacco, 
of vegetables. 
Servants, including burkun- 

dazes and peons. 
Salgurs, or cleaners and darn- 
ers of shawls. 
Shikarees, or killers of game. 
Shoe menders. 
Soap makers. 
Spectacle makers. 
Sundhoas, persons who extract 
gold filings from the sweep- 
ings of goldsmiths' shops. 



99 



>5 



J> 



99 



» 



99 



99 



>J 



>J 



Sungtarasb, or 6tone cutters. 

Sweepers. 

Tailors. 

Takhoor-poojah, brahmins who 
ofiiciate at Hindoo temples. 

Talookdars. 

Tamboolees, or sellers of pan 
leaf. 

Tarkush, or wire drawers. 

Timber merchants. 

Singha-wallahs, or dry cup- 
pers. 

Street coolies. 

Summajees, or musicians who 
attend nautches. 

Subloh-wallahs, or musical in- 
strument makers. 

Sapooreah, or snake catchers. 

Vakeels. 

Washermen. 

Weavers. 

Weighers of grain, lime, &a 

Workers in leather. 

Zemindars. 

Zurdose, or embroiderers with 
silk, and gold and silver 
thread. 



Commerce. The principal exports are cloths, B^cports. 
indigo, betelnut, safflower, pat, soap, skins, 
shell bracelets, jewellery, copper utensils, 
cheese and preserved fruits. The former 
consist chiefly of flowered muslins, which are 
sent to difierent parts of the country, and of 
khasseidas or embroidered cloths, which are 



Flowered 
muslins. 



184 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 

exported exclusively to Bussorah and Jidda^ 
from which latter place they are re-exported 
gate vaiSf?*^^" to Egypt and Turkey. The aggregate value 
of this export during the last four years 
safflowlr "^ has uot exceodcd 9 J lacs of rupees. Indigo 
Betel nuts. ^^^ safflowcr are sent to Calcutta, and betel- 
nuts to Rungpore, Assam, Arracan and Pegu. 
•Hides. Hides are exported in considerable quan- 
^°*^' tities to Calcutta, otter skins to China, soap 
to different parts of the country, and to the 
Mauritius and to the Islands to the Eastward, 
preserved *° and chccsc and preserved fruits to places in 
™* *' the Lower Provinces, and to Jidda and Bus- 

imports sorah. The imports comprize mustard and 

mustard and i -mr 

til seed. til sccd from Assam and Mymensmg ; sugar 

from Furreedpore and Garipore ; lime from 

Sylhet ; timber from Assam, Morung, Rung- 

Sugar, lime, pore, &c. tobacco from Pumca and Rungporc, 

timber, to- *^ ' m- , 

bacccH cotton, cottou from Arracau, Chittagong, Tipperah 

citechu. ivory, , t.-- . , , 

&C.&C. and Mymensmg; catechu, ivory, pepper, 

arsenic, wax, gold and silver are brought from 
Arracan and Pegu ; Moongah or tussur silk 
from Assam and Sylhet ; cocoanuts and 
bhukum wood from Chittagong and Backer- 
gunge ; sheilds and aggur wood, or fragrant 
aloe wood, from Sylhet ; wheat, grain, shoes 
and blankets from Patna ; and chanck shells, 
English yarn and piece goods, consisting of 
long cloths, chintzes, cambrics, and also 
shawls, woolen cloths, earthen and glass ware, 
needles, country drugs, spices and cutlery 
from Calcutta. Dacca and Naraingunge are 
also marts for the produce of the surrounding 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 185 

districts, grain and oil seeds are imported from 
Sy Ibet, My mensing, and Tiperah, and salt from 
Chittagongand Bulloah to the latter mart, for 
transmission to different parts of the country. 

The weight of the seer is 80^ siccas, and is weighu 
the one by which goods of every kind are 
retailed, with the exception of a few articles 
as brass ware, which is frequently sold at the 
rate of 78 siccas, and lime at that of 90 siccas 
per seer. The tolah is used in weighing gold 
and silver, jewels, spices, medicines, thread 
and fine cloth ; the number of mashas in a tolah 
varies, being 10 for gold and silver weights : 
12 and two ruttees for medicines and spices, 
and 12|- for jewels. In Fureedpore and 
Backergunge the seer is only 60 sicca weight. 
The grain and liquid measures consist of cane 
or wicker baskets, and hollow bamboos. They 
have reference to a determined weight, and 
are all specific proportions of the seer weigh- 
ing SO^ siccas. There were formerly two kinds And measorei, 
of cloth measures in use in the city, viz, the 
Sultanyghuz, which was equal to 36^ inches, 
and the Company's guz, which was 39^ in 
length. The English yard is now used, and 
also a measure called the Kuttaneeguz, which 
is equal to 34f inches in length. The very 
fine muslins are sold by weight called Dukhee, 
the price rising in proportion to the decrease 
of weight, the length of the cloth and the num- 
ber of threads in it. Thread is weighed in 
scales resembling the Danish balance. 



186 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



mum 
Hindoos. 



Manner of 
conducting 
their specu- 
lations. 



With the exception of four or five Mussul* 

mauns, and about the same number of 

Christians, all the merchants are Hindoos. 

The roer- The merchants that belong to Dacca export 

cantiie com- ^ * 

itymosiiy their goods to Calcutta while those who are 

II una. O 

natives of the Upper Provinces and have 
settled here, carry on a traffic with that part 
of the country. Many of them come to attend 
the annual fairs of which there are five in the 
vicinity of Dacca, and afterwards sell their 
remaining stock of goods in the town. The 
cloth merchants repair to Calcutta in Novem- 
ber to dispose of their investments to the 
Nacodas of Arab ships, and are generally 
absent four or five mdnths. There is a good 
deal of petty trade carried on by small joint 
stock companies, frequently consisting of a 
number of individuals to whom the merchan- 
dize belongs, and also of the owners and crews 
of boats, who receive instead of wages a share 
of the profits of the speculation. There is an 
agent here who transacts business for a 
Calcutta Insurance Office, and two Native 
merchants who insure goods to the Upper 
Provinces. Dellols and Shrofis or Poddars, 
formed at one time a wealthy and influential 
body in the city. The former were brokers, 
who were employed by the Company's com* 
mercial servants to procure their investments, 
and who managed the details of the business 
through the agency of Pykars : and the latter 
had extensive dealings with merchants and 
Zemindars in the exchange of coins, and the 



Delols and 
Shroffs. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 187 

remittance of money to different parts of the 

country. These two classes were extensively 

engaged in trade,' and to them belonged a 

great portion of the capital embarked in it, 

and which was ultimately withdrawn by them 

on the abolition of the Arcot currency, and 

the promulgation of the regulation which 

fixed the interest of money at 1 2 per cent. 

The transactions of Poddars are confined at ^^^llfl^^""^^ 

present to granting hoondees on Calcutta, ?^^^"j,*°^^2"e; 

Patna, Moorshedabad, Benares, Sylhet and and loans on 

' T J- mortgage, 

Mirzapore. They advance money to Indigo 
planters on bills drawn on Calcutta, and loans 
to the inhabitants on mortgages of houses 
and land, and on jewels, gold and silver arti- 
cles, &c. left in pledge with them. Many of 
them import English thread from Calcutta 
and retail it to the weavers, but this article 
is purchased in largest quantities by the mer- 
chants who visit Calcutta in the cold season. 
Pykars form another numerous class of per- Pykars or 
sons connected with the manufactures and *^*"'' 
trade of the place*. They are agents who 
make purchases of country thread in the 
different bazars in the country, and procure 
cloths for the merchants in the city. An 
advance of money is made by the merchant, 
and the Pykar enters into an agreement to 
dieliver to him a certain number of bales of 
cloth of certain dimensions, quality andnum- 
bur of thread within a specified time. He 
distributes the money among the weavers and 
superintends the work, and for his trouble 
receives a small commission of about 2^ per 



188 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 

cent. When the investment is large, the 
cloths when brought to the merchant are 
assorted by a Jackindar or prizer, who divides 
them according to their quality into four 
classes, each of which has a certain vahie 
attached to it, and whatever is too coarse to 
be admitted into the 4th class is rejected or 
thrown on the hands of the Pykar. 

Commerci- Decline of Commerce. The commercial in- 

al intercoiirse , , . 

between Dae- tcrcoursc Dotween tuis part of tiie country and 
rope. ' Europe in early times was carried on via 

Masalia, (Masulipatam) Taprobane, (Ceylon) 
to Byragara, (Broach^ on the western coast 
of India. From this latteiiplace it extended to 
Aduli on the Red Sea, and to Alexandria in 
Egypt, and from thence to the different anci- 
ent ports of Europe, bordering on the Medi- 
terranean. Spikenard, pearls and cloths appear 
Its antiquity, j^ havc bccu the exports. From the accounts 
With the of India and China by two Mahommedan 
travellers, we find that the Chinese purchased 
cloths. Rhinoceros horns, a«4 in this part of 
the country in the 9th centuryj and in the 
time of Vertomannus in the year 1503, the 
manufactures of this part of Bengal were 
exported to Turkey, Syria, Arabia, Ethiopia 
and Persia. He states that in the city of 
Bengala were **many merchant strangers" 
who purchased precious stones, and that 50 . 
ships laden with cloth of Bombasin"*^ and silk 
were dispatched annually to the countries 
above mentioned. Fitch also in his notice of 

* Derived ftom the Italian word for cotton. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 189 

Sunergong in 1586, mentions that "great 
store of cotton cloth goeth from hence and 
much rice, wherein they serve all India, Cey- 
lon, Pegu, Malacca, Sumatra and many other 
places ;" and Tavernier speaks of the cossae, 
muslins, the silk and cotton stuffs, and the 
flowered or embroidered fabrics of Dacca, 
having been exported, (prior to the time of 
his visit 1666) to Provence, Italy, Languedoc, 
and Spain. When Surat, after the discovery consideraWe 
of the passage by the Cape, became the prin- J^*'^\7te^ f^e 
cipal emporium for the goods of Europe and <J^«covery of 

I r o r the passage 

of India, Dacca carried on considerable l^^^^ ^*'* 

> ^ Cape. 

trafic with that, place.* Rice was exported 
to the Coromandel Coast, and cloths to 
Surat: and chanks and tortoise-shell were 
taken in return, but the balance of trade 
bein^ then greatly in favor of the district, 
specie was imported direct, and in this 
way the Arcot rupee appears to have been introduction 
introduced into the eastern parts of Bengal. Joopec. ^^^^ 
The exportation of cloths to different parts of Exportation 
Hindoostan was atso very extensive in former Hindoostan^ 
times. The annual investments for the im- in^^nml^^ 
perial wardrobe at Delhi and for the Vice- *"court8of 
regal Court of the province monopolized the the |I^oti*nce 
whole of the finer muslins. The manufacturers ?brfi°ne**r*mu«. 
were not allowed to sell cloths exceeding a *"*' 
stated value, to native or foreign merchants, 
and to superintend the provision of these State 
investments, a special agent resided on the 

*^ ^ ^ ^ An ajfent 

spot who exercised an authority, independent appo>n««d by 
of Magistrates and Government officers, over prevent manu. 

,, , , 1 1 •! faclurera sell- 

all brokers, weavers and embroiders engaged i"« c'®^*^ 



190 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

pxreedinfj a in tlic busiiicss. CoFal, amber and tortoise- 

shell ornaments were exported in the time 

of Tavernier to Boutan, Assam, and Siam. 

Cloths, otter skins and shell bracelets were 

sent to Nepaul, and chowrees, China silk, and 

toosh (a kind woolen cloth) were imported 

into Dacca. With Pegu and countries to the 

. eastward an extensive trade was carried on. 

Gold and silver and catechu were imported 

in much larger quantities than at present, 

and muslins, silk, shawls, betel nuts and 

The impor- jewellery were taken in return. The impor- 
tation of bul- J J » ^ 

lion declined tatiou of buUiou began to fall off on the aboli- 

o!i the «boli- ^ ^ 

tion of the tiou of the mint, and since the Burmese war 
the trade has greatly declined and appears to 
be transferred to Calcutta. Mr. Holwell men- 
tions that the Shabunder duties amounted to 
two crores of rupees in 1765. But this we 
may infer, was the value of the trade, for 
there can be no doubt that the Sayer duties 
here never amounted to this sum. In 1761 
Trade fallen WO find that tlic Company's investments at 
fiTirmeTr ww! ^^^ Dacca factory amounted to about 22 lacs of 
Com^pany*^! Tupces, aud tho expenditure, including salaries 
jJIYyel*/"'* and charges of every kind, was rupees 56,667. 
Value of the ^^ ^^ Y^^^ ^''^'^ Mr. Day, the Collector, esti- 
tradein 1787. mated the trade of the district at one crore of 

rupees or 1 \ million pounds sterling, of which 
sum between 30 and 40 lacs of rupees were 
expended annually in the purchase of cloths 
for exportation to Europe. The total vakie 
of goods manufactured for European markets 
amounted in 1 807 to rupees 8,61,818-8-5. In 
1810 Ji!d iisia 1810 it was rupees 5,66,996, but in 1813 it did 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. J 91 

not exceed rupees 3,38,114-12-8. In 1817 the 
Commercial Residency was abolished, and of^he^com- 
from that time the exportation of cloths to ^.^[^^'-^^qi^^ 
Europe may be said to have ceased. The 
produce of the Dacca looms now chiefly con- 
sists of fiLowered muslins and khasseidas, 
besides the common cloths of the country, but 
the quantity manufactured is small compared 
to what it was in former times. 



The following comparative statement of the 
value of cotton goods that passed as exports 
through the Dacca custom house from 1817 to 
1835 shews the declining state of this branch 
of trade. 



1817.18 Rs. 15,24.974 1 8 1829-30 Rs. 5,04,882 12 Comparative 

1821-22 ,. 12,16,252 5 1831-82 „ 3.60,747 5 •J»^«'"f "^ oj 

the value of 
1825-26 , 6,29,183 11 3 1834-35 3,87,122 exports of coU 

ton goods 
from 1817 to 
1835. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Revenue during the Mogul Government — Ditto 
since the cominencement of the Honble Com- 
pany's Administration — Civil administration 
and local occurrences since 1765. 



The assessments that were levied by the The MeUi 
Mogul Emperors were classed under the heads lessment^ "' 
of Mehal and Saver.* The former or territo- The former 

. , 11 1 • . . collected from 

rial revenue was collected in 19 circars, into the territorial 

revenue. 

* Vide papers in the Appendix to the 5th Report on the Affkirs of 
the East India Company. 



sessmeiit. 



192 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

The latter ^^*^*^ Bengal was divided by Rajah Torell 
KlT&c" ^''." ^^ *^^ y^^^ '588, while the latter con- 
sisting of customs or duties corresponding to 
our taxes was levied at hauts, gunges and 
cJcIlrH^rere ^^^^^^' ^hc circars connected with Dacca 
Su'e'rgX""' ^^""^ Bazoohay and Sunergong. The form- 
er, which included the city, stretched eastward 
from Barbeckabad towards Sylhet : it con- 
Jment**" ^^^^^^ ^^ pcrgunuahs and was assessed at 
rupees 9,87,921. The latter had most of its 
lands on the eastern side of the Megna and 
Berhampooter, and comprized a considerable 
portion of what now constitutes the district 
of Tiperah ; its pergunnahs were 52 in num- 
ber, and the amount of its revenue was rupees 
2,58,283. The " Tukseem Jumma" of the va. 
rious allotments and portions of land included 

Extent of . ^, , ^'^^ 

the circrs of lu the pcrguunahs of the circars of Bazoohav 

Torell Mull in 1 c! !•/*,. 

Jaffier Khaiit ^nd t^unergoug was their fixed lumma or rent, 
as adjusted by Torell Mull. It appears to 
have been made upon a "Moozawaree," that 
is, the amount of revenue of each village was 
specified, whether it was included in the "Neez 
Talooks of Zemindars or in those of the Zim- 
mahdars or independent Talookdars. In the 
reign of ShaMahummud, and during the Vice- 
royalty of Jaffier Khan in 1722, the original 
circars of Torell Mull, together with those sub- 
sequently annexed by Sultan Shujaa in 1658, 
were formed into 13 chucklas or military, 
and civil jurisdictions. The chuckla of Je- 
hangirenuggur (or Dacca) included the circars 
of Sunergong, Bokleh (Backergunge), portions 
of Bazoohay and Fatteehab^d (Noacolly), as 



time. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 193 

far as the river Fenny, and also the circar of 
Odeypore (Tipperah) and Moradkaneh (Sun- 
derbunds.) This extensive circle was sub- . ^'" •"Wivi- 

' tion and as« 

divided into a number of Zemindarees, which ■•*•»«»'• 
were classed under the principal one of Jel- 
lalpore ; it contained 236 pergunnahs, and 
was assessed at rupees 19,28,294. Suja Khan bySujrKbLu" 
who succeeded Juffier Khan in the govern- 
ment of the province, considering that the 
collection of the revenue was unequally dis- 
tributed by this arrangement, formed in the 
year 1728, a corrected rent roll or " Jumma 
Toomary Teskhes," by which the province 
of Bengal was divided into 25 Eahtimam or 
Zemindaree trusts. The Eahtimam Jellal- 
pore comprehended all the Khalsa or crown 
lands of the Chuckla of Jehangirenuggur, 
with a part of those belonging to the conti- 
guous chucklas of Jessore and Ghoraghat, 
constituting the great province of Dacca un- 
der the charge of a Naib of the Nazim, and 
comprising, according to Rennel's survey of 
it, an area of 1 5,397 square miles. 

The Jaghires that were assigned in the A«si|(nment 
Dacca districts, for the support of the Civil ^ ** ""' 
and Military establishments of the country, 
were computed to comprize one-third of its 
whole extent. The following were the prin- 
cipal assignments. 1st. — Omleh Nowarrah ponhe 
for the support of armed vessels to guard the ^a7»h,^^ 
coast against the incursions of the Mughs. 
The fleet, at the time it was established by 
Ackber, consistej^ of upwards of 3000 vessels 

2 a 



194 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

or boats, but it was afterwards reduced to 
768 vessels, besides which a number of boats 
and men were furnished by the Zemindars 
in return for the lands, they held under the 
name of this Jaghire. The Nowarrah Jag- 
hire was the principal assignment in the 
district, and included the best lands of the 
Neabut, and was subdivided into a number of 
small talooks, which were granted to the 
boatmen and artificers of the fleet instead of 

leh^Ahsh^'"" wages. 2d. — Omleh Ahsham. This grant 

was appropriated for the maintenance of 2,820 

troops and* artillery for the defence of the 

^. n forts on the sea coast. 3d. — Circar Ali, 

^^'- This was an assignment to defray the ex-- 

penses of the Nawaub, including his house- 
hold establishment: half of the lands of this 
The jajr- Jaghiro lay in the Dacca district. 4th. — ^The 

Commander- Jaghiro of tho Commauder in Chief of the 

in- chief* -r% • • i /» i • • < 

Empire was assigned lor his maintenance, 
and to support the command of 2,6dO horse. 
The lands belonging to it were chiefly situ- 
The Fouj. ated in Dacca and Sylhet. 6th. — Foujderan. 
derail. This grant was made after Dacca became the 

station of a Naib, and was originally intended 
to defray the Military expenses of Moorshud 
Kooli Khan, who first held that appointment ; 
it amounted to Rupees 1,00,145. 

Taxes con- Counccted with the territorial revenue there 

thr'territwiai wcro taxcs Called Aboabs, which were levied 

Aboabi,*""^*^ throughout the country, on behalf of the 

Nazim. They were imposed in the time of 

Sultan Shujaa; but it was n(^t until the admi- 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 195 

nistration of Jaffier Khan, that they became 
fixed assessments ; they were raised in 
commutation, it was alleged, of ancient 
Military services. The Aboabs collected in 

Til A ITk 

the Dacca province were, 1st— Khasnaveesy, naveesy. "* 
or a fee exacted from Zemindars by the Ex- 
chequer or Khalsa accountants at the renewal 
of the leases of their lands. 2d. — Nuzzeranah The Nii«- 
Mokerry of Suja Khan to cover the expense ker^f ^°' 
of the Nuzzurs, which were sent to Court by 
the provincial delegates at the Eed, and other 
great Mohammedan festivals. 3d. — Zer Mat- The Zer 
hout was a percentage of 1^ Rupees on the 
Jumma Toomary or original territorial rent, 
and was composed of smaller Aboabs, viz. 
Nuzzer Pooneah or presents from Zemindars 
at their annual settlement of accounts. Bha 
Khelat to defray the expense of Khelats or 
robes* which were presented to the Zemindars 
at this time. Russoom Nezarut or com- 
mission of 10 annas per million, which was 
exacted by the head peon or jemadar of 
the Khalsa or Exchequer. 3d. — Foujdaree The Fouj. 
Aboab. This was a permanent tax on the ^"'' ^^'*'- 
land which was raised by the Naib, and 
retained by him as a perquisite of office. 
4th — Chout Marhatta. Was imposed by cboutMar. 
Alverdi Klian on the crown lands to defray 
the tribute exacted at this time by the Mar- 
faattas. Other Aboabs were levied by Cossim 
Khan, and Mahommed Reza Khan who was 
Dewan of Dacca, during the administration 
of Jaffier Ali Khan. The principal were the 
Serf Sicca, and the Aboab Khemsy . The 



196 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 

former consisted of 1^ anna on each Rupee 
of the Khalsa Jumma or rent paid into tlie 
Exchequer, and the latter, which was raised 
in 1765-6, was composed of several minor 
taxes, on plea of being presented to the King 
of Delhi, in return for his gift of the Dewanny 
to the Honorable Company : for dresses or 
Khelats : for river embankments at Moorshe* 
dabad ; commission for cutcherry servants 
on treasure brought from the Mofussil : and 
batta or duty on the recoinage of old Rupees. 

Other la addition to the above sources of revenue, 

source of 

revenue. considerable sums were realized at different 
times, under the designation of Kefiyet and 
Towfeer. These terms meant the profit aris* 
ing from the resumption of taxes discovered 
to have been illegally levied by the provincial 
Naibs, Dewans and their subordinates^ and 
also the amount accruing from an encreased 
assessment on Jaghirea equal to what had 
been imposed on the crown lands from the 
time of Ackber. The principal Kefiyet in 
the Dacca districts arose from an increase of 
the Sayer duties, and the recovery of per- 
quisites, which were enjoyed by Nowazish 
Mahommed Khan, while he was Naib and 
Dewan. This and the Towfeer accruing 
from the Nowarrah, Circar Ali, Ahsham, and 
Commander in Chiefs Jaghires amounted m 
1765 to upwards of 13 lacs of Rupees. 

Charges in. The chargcs incurred in the collection of 
the revenue never exceeded 10 per cent.^ and 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 197 

were defrayed by appropriating for the sub- collection of 

the revenue. 

sistence of the Zemindars one or more estates, 
under the designation of Nancar, to which 
Bunkur and Julkar, or the rights of pastur- 
age, fuel, and fishing were subsequently 
added by Jaffier Khan. The other disburse- 
ments were classed under the head of Mus- 
coorat or Wuzeat, and comprized Neem- 
tuckee or Tunga to the Canongoes which was 
^ per cent on the khalsa jumma, on account 
of the increased subdivisions of pergunnahs : 
Muccudemy which was a similar allowance 
to the Neez or independent Talookdars, who 
paid revenue into the Exchequer ; and Ay- 
mah, Muddud Mash, and Roozinah, consisting 
of subsistence to religious and learned men 
in the country, the former two being gene- 
rally in an allotment of land and the latter 
consisting of a daily allowance of money. 
The free lands held in this district for religi- 
ous purposes amounted in the year 1 763 to 
Rupees 6634. The principal expense was 
Rupees 90,000 for the maintenance of the 
Sebundy troops on account of the Nazim. 

The second great branch of revenue or ThcSayer 

a gap cs IQ 1*11 1^ 

Sayer was established at an early period of 
the Moghul administration. It consisted of 
duties or customs levied upon almost every 
article of life, and of imposts on trades, pro- 
fessions and personal property ; and was 
under the joint controul of the Naib and De- 
wan of the province, who exercised the right 
of modifying or altering this branch of reve- 



198 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

nue as they might deem proper. These taxes 
were collected at certain gunges, ghauts and 
bazars, and were generally let to the Zemin- 
dars of the neighbourhood, to Izaradars or 
farmers, or they were put under the charge 
of Government officers as Aumeens and Tes- 
hildars, who entered into engagements for the 
The rate payment of the annual collections. The rate 

of BBnessment *'' j/»ii- 

not well de- of asscssmcut and mode of collection were 
not well defined, and being in most cases 
left to the uncontroulled management of 
renters and their subordinates, these taxes 
were generally very arbitrary and oppressive. 
The Saycr The Saycr duties though quite distinct from 

mstoms of _ _ . . . , 

Dacca. the Mehal or territorial revenue, were neverr 

theless denominated Mehals, each Mehal de- 
riving its distinctive appellation from the 
local name of the profession, trade or article 
that was taxed. The Sayer customs connected 
with Dacca were ranked under the two heads 
of Shabunder, and Chundeena, and comprise 
the following Mehals, &c. 

Mheer Barec. jgj; — Mhccr Barcc. A tax ou the building 
of boats, which varied from eight annas to 
one rupee four annas according to the size of 
the vessel. It was also levied upon all boats 
arriving at or leaving the city whose crews 
were not residents of the district, and was 
extremely oppressive and injurious to the 
inland trade. A boat proceeding to Moor- 
shedabad was charged at the rate 8 annas 
per oar ; to Calcutta 10 annas; and to Benares 
rupees 1-8 — ^while boats arriving from thc!^^ 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 199 

places were taxed at the rate of one, two, 
and four rupees per boat. The Mehal was 
originally confined to the city, but it after- 
ward extended to the country, where it was 
exacted by the Zemindars and farmers from 
every boat that passed through their estates. 
It was considered useful in leading to the 
detection of decoits, as a registry of the 
boats, manjees, and boatmen belonging to the 
district was kept by the Zemindars. 

2d. — Choke Nekass. This was a tax ex- ^ ^^^^^^ Ne- 
elusive of the ground rent of shops, on all 
articles sold in the market place. For a goat, 
1 to 2 annas was charged in the rupee : ele- 
phants and horses at the rate of 5 per cent^ 
and buffaloes at 14 per cent, on the price, 
besides rupees 1-4 from the purchaser. The 
proprietors of milch buffaloes in town and 
country were taxed at the rate of rupees 1-8 
per year for each buffaloe in their possession. 
The sellers of copper utensils, arms, knives, 
cutlery of all kinds, looking glasses, hookahs, 
trinkets, bracelets, combs, &c. were all taxed 
as well as pedlars in the choke, at the rate 
of one anna in the rupee. 

3d, — Dhoop Mehal. A tax on the sellers Bhoop 
of glass in the city. It varied from two to ^*^*^' 
six rupees a year, according as the person 
Bold this article in the bazar, or supplied a 
fixed establishment. Grass cutters supplj^- 
ingthe stables of Europeans were charged 
eight anna3 per iBonth. Cow-keepers la the 



200 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



city paid at the same rate, while those who 
resided in the country, but sold milk in the 
town, were charged at the rate of rupees two 
per month. 



Mehal 
Gorkattee. 



Mehal 
Bhall. 



4th.— Mehal Gorkattee. This was a tax 
on persons bringing wood, bamboos, and grass 
for thatching into the city for sale. 

5th. — Mehal Dhall. A tax for the makers 
of shields and accoutrements ; it varied from 
one to rupees 1-8 per year, besides the lea- 
ther, which was taxed at the rate of one anna 
and ten gundas in the rupee, and the Bel em- 
ployed in blackening it, at six annas per 
maund. 



Mehal 
Sindbareet 



6th. — Mehal Sindharee. A tax on the ma- 
nufactures of Sindharee, the red paint used 
by the Hindoos, the amount is not mentioned. 



Fan M«ha]. 7th. — Pan Mchal. A tax on Betel leaf sold 
in the city: it was regulated according to 
the variations in the price, and was usually 
levied at a certain rate per bundle. This 
Mehal was held by persons who claimed the 
exclusive privilege of selling pan in the city, 
and suburbs. In the year 1773, it was let out 
forRs. 18,441 7 12. i 



Subzee Me- 
hal 



8th. — Subzee Mehal. A tax on the sellers 
of vegetables, varying from J to 5 rupees 
annually, according to the extent of their 
dealings. 




TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 201 

9th. — Mehal Cagutch. A tax on the sellers of Mehai Ca- 

1 /• I gutch. 

paper, at the rate of rs. 36 per shop per year. 

10th. — Chundeena Allemgunge. A tax on ^^^hw»»^wna 

^ *^ Allemgunge. 

all persons engaged in trade in Dacca, vary- 
ing from 1 to 2. rupees 8 annas per year. 

• 
11th. — Shire Chundeena and Chokundee shireChun- 
and Peshcush Bazar. They were taxes on chokirndee 
sundry artificers and shopkeepers in the city, bazar.*"^*^"'^ 
including the manufacturers of gold and 
silver thread, and of fireworks, shell cutters, 
the weavers of flowered muslins, (Chappa 
Jamdanee) and gold and silver smiths. The 
amount is not mentioned. 



12th. — Chundeena Dumdaree. A tax on chundeena 
bear, monkey, and snake dancers, on bird 
catchers, singers, fakirs and conjurers. 



Dumdarev. 



13th. — Chundeena Byjentry. A tax on Chundeena 
musicians of every kind. The aggregate ^*"'^' 
amount of this, and the preceding tax was 
rs. 4,500 per year. 

14th. — ^The other taxes belonging to the 
Chundeena were Mye Mehal or duty paid by Mye Mehai. 
the sellers of dried fish : Nimuck Delloly paid Nimuck 

^ ^ Delloly. 

by the sellers of salt ; Guzzer Mehal by Ouzzur 
washermen ; and Emah Mehal or tax on the Emah Mehai 
sale of wood. 



1 5th. — Batchappee and Panchattee Mehals. Batchappee 
They were established after the abolition of tee Mehais. 

2b 



202 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA: 

anr^p^I'm^lfau ^^^ office of Ittysub, and were placed under 
tee MehaiB. the chargc of officers who inspected and regu- 
lated all the weights and measures in the city. 
No salary being allowed to these officers, they 
were authorized to levy a tax at the rate of 
8 annas upon every hundred rupees of mer->> 
cjiandize. This tax was continued for some 
time after the Company's accession to the 
Dewanny, and was under the superintend* 
ence of the Secretary to the Provincial Coun- 
cil, and of Aumeens appointed by the Col- 
lector. The Negabauns inspected the weighty 
and measures of the bazars, and affixed a seal 
to them twice a month in their respective 
wards, reporting cases of deficiency to the 
CoUecter, by whom offenders were punished. 
Belonging to the Chundeena and Shabunder 
branches of the Sayer, there were several 
Mehals, at the marts andgunges in Bickram- 
pore and other places in the vicinity of the 
Taxes on city. They comprized taxes on dealers in 
ofh!r"rti!JieB tobacco, cottou, betel-Hut, betel-leaf, includiag 
a heavy tax on Beparries and brokers engag- 
ed in the purchase, and the sale of these 
different articles, and also on ferry men, fish- 
ermen and boat-builders. Belonging to it also 
were several imposts of a more arbitrary and 
oppressive character, as for instance theMehal 
called " Mokaum Tpngee Jemalpore" where 
qU persons belonging to this place, who en- 
gaged in service in other parts of the country, 
were taxed on their return home, and all 
strangers carrying out money from it, had to 
pay 1 anna on each rupee in their possession. 



of trade. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 203 

V 

Besides the Chundeena and Shabunder^ 
duties were levied at all the hauts* or markets n,»- . 

i/iiiips on 

in the country. They were generally consi- ^"j"'* ^^ """• 
dered as constituting a branch of the Sayer 
revenue, but in the opinion of Mr. Douglass Revenue 
they were on a different footing from it. therefrom. 
These taxes were collected at 556 markets in 
the Dacca province at the time the Company 
acquired theDewanny, and yielded an annual 
revenue of rs. 6&,784-8-13. They were abo- 
lished along with the Sayer duties in 1790, 
and compensation was granted to Zemindars 
for the loss they sustained by their abolition ; 
but they continue to be exacted by the land- 
holders under the head of ground rent, which 
they are entitled to for fixed tenements on 
their property. A considerable portion of the 
Sayer was held " Lakheraj" or free, the pro* 
prietors of which received pensions. 

Revenue from the year 1765. — The property Description 
that devolved to the Honorable Company on j;*^ p*dperty^ 
their acquisition of the Dewanny in 1765, Ij^l^f/'com- 
con^isted of ground within the precincts of ^JigiJ"o„^^of 
the old Fort, on which the mint, public offices [J;^,;^^.''"""^ 
and Nawaub's palace stood ; of about 600 bee- 
gahs of land belonging to the royal demesnes 
in the pergunahs of Sahidabad and JafFer- 
abad : and of the Peshkush Dewanny, which 
consisted of property that bad reverted to the 
crown from failure of legal heirs or from the 
proprietors having committed crimes, which 
rendered their estateii liable to escheat, com- 
prising also the royal Forts of Hajegunge, 
Dasra and the great Kuttra, and several 



204 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Property houscs and dctached portions of land, the 

acquired by - - • i i . /. , 

the Company wholc yielding a revenue of about rs. 550 a 
wanny. * *' year. Besides these portions of land, several 

houses, streets and bazars in the city, included 
under the head of Chundeena, were acquired 
by the Government. They yielded revenue 
to the amount of rs. 7,000, but they are now 
let for rs. 1 ,780 a year. The Nowarrah lands, 
which were under the management of the 
Nawaubs of Moorshedabad and Dacca, con- 
stitute the principal public property that has 
since been acquired by Government. When 
the Nowarrah or fleet was established in the 
time of Ackber, a certain number of villages 
and portions of land were selected for its 
support. The revenue of this assigned pro- 
perty was transferred from the Khalsa or 
Exchequer to the Nowarrah department, and 
the only difference occasioned by this transfer 
was, that the proprietors of the land paid 
their revenue to the officers of the Nowarrah, 
instead of to the Dewan of the province, or 
were required to answer the orders of these 
officers for the payment of money or for 
grants of land in favorof boatmen, artisans, &c. 
The amount of revenue thus originally trans- 
ferred to the Nowarrah was rs. 7,12,502-13, 
of which sum considerable portions were re- 
sumed at different times. The amount that 
was recoverable at the time of the Com- 
pany's accession to the Dewannywas only 
rs. 57,630-3-1, of which rs. 32,222-12 was 
held by Zemindars as Hissaraut and rs. 
25,408-1-17 was under the Nawab of Dacca 
— thus leaving a balance of rs. 3,43,934-6-5, ^ 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 205 

which could not be accounted for. Between 
the Hissaraut and concealed lands of the 
Nowarrah, situated in the districts of Dacca, 
and Backergunge in the year 1798, it was 
estimated that the Government were entitled 
to rupees 90,000 above the amount mentioned. 
The part held by the Nawab of Dacca has Consider- 
long since been resumed by Government and shlcc^'rTcoVi?. 
considerable portions of the Hissaraut and mnmeul^^' 
concealed lands have also been recovered by 
the revenue oflScers of the district. Various 
small portions of land in the city and its vici- 
nity, the right of which was claimed by indi- 
viduals, have also from time to time been 
resumed, so that with the exception of a 
portion of the Nowarrah Jaghire, which is 
still concealed, the whole of what constituted 
the property of the state in the time of the 
Moghul Government, is now in the possession 
of the Honorable Company. The ground upon 
which 'the city stands, is said to be Lakhiraj 
and it appears to have been always considered 
as such by the revenue officers of the district. 
The other property that has more lately been 
acquired by the Company consists of alluvial 
land in the channels of the rivers. 

On the settlement of the Dewanny on Great re- 
behalf of the Company in the year 1765, the r^v'et^^^ 
Neabut of Dacca, which had been for some terlhrrcqSi: 
time previously under the controul of Mahom- Dewanny^^fn 
med Reza Khan, was reduced from its estab- 1765. 
lished revenue of 38 to the comparatively 
small sum of 20|^ lacs of rupees. The follow- 
ing statement shews the different portions of 



20« 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



territory included within the province of 
Dacca Jellalpore at this period : the extent 
of its area, the Ausil Jumma Toomary or 
amount of revenue in 1 722 : the Ezafa Soubha-* 
daree or increase arising from additional 
assessments and other sources from that time 
up to 1 765 : the deductions from the total 
amount : and the net revenue as settled by 
the Dewan in 1 765-6. 



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TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA; 207 

The fiettlement of the district by the Coun- inerease of 
oil at Moorshedabad in 1772, for a term of •ettumen" by 

/» J J • /• the Council 

nve years produced an increase of revenue* of xMooreh^da- 
The gross amount of collections was rupees for five yj^n. 
2,978,143, the difference having been made 
up by an Ezafa and Aboab Khemsy, to make 
good the defalcations by M. R. Khan at the 
settlement in 1765. From this were deducted 
the charges of collection (Salianeh,) leaving 
a net revenue of rupees 26,93,041. 



1777.8. 



In 1777-8 the Zemindars were reinstated Revenue in 
by the Council Committee in their several 
local trusts after the form of a Hustabood 
investigation, which was conducted by Au- 
meens to ascertain the actual receipts of 
revenue throughout f rds of the province during 
the four or five preceding years. The amount 
of the territorial and sayer revenue, as settled 
with the Zemindars at this time was rupees 
30,08,974 which, after deducting Zemindaree 
allowances, left a mixed Jumma of rupees 
28,49,110. 



In 1783-4 the revenue, as settled by the reve- 
nue officers Zemindars, for ten years amount- ^'^^•** 
ed to rupees 28,09,998, after the deduction of 
the charges of collection, which besides Sali- 
aneh (introduced in 1772) were Hoondeawun 
or charge of remittance ; Foujdaree or allow- 
ance for peons, at the time the Zemindars acted 
as Justices of the Peace ; and Ass u rah and 
Burah to defray the expense of certain religi-r 
ous ceremonies connected with the Akrajhautt 



Revenue in 



208 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Extent of At the time of the permanent settlement in 

the Dacca i -rv .r^ 

CoUectorate 1 793, the Dacca Collectorate consisted of this 

at the per- 
manent 8€tiie. district (as constituted at present) and of Back- 

ment in 1798. _.-, ' 

Amount of crgungo. 1 he amount of revenue in 1803 was 
1803. 12^ lacs of rupees, and the number of landed 

proprietors 16,000. The independent or Neez 
Talookdars were originally 380 in number, 
but in the year 1792, a large portion of the 
inferior Talookdars, who paid their rents to 
them, were made independent and were 
allowed to pay their revenue direct into the 
treasury. To afford relief to this numerous 
body of landholders, and to obviate the neces- 
sity of their travelling to a distance, the dis- 
trict was subdivided in the year 1797 -into a 
TheDUtrict number of Collectorate Zillas, where Teshil- 

divided into •, . . . , • 

Ziiiahsforthe oars wcrc statioucd to receive their revenues, 
iTct^on^of ^the but ou accouut of the different Talooks being 
detached and scattered over many pergunnahs, 
this mode of collection was found to be im- 
practicable, and was therefore discontinued, 
and succeeded by the present practice of 
paying the revenue into the Collector's Cutch- 
Divisionof erry. During the Moghul administration the 

the revenue , 

department revcuue department was divided into the two 
Mo«hui ad- brauchcs of Huzzooree and Nizamut, both of 
which distinctions were maintained until 178 1 , 
when the two branches were annexed under 
the first title. On the subdivision of the Col- 
lectorate into Zillahs in 1797, the distinctions 
of Huzzooree Teshil and Zillah Teshil were 
introduced, and are still observed in the Col- 
lector's office, although the mode of collection 
indicated by the latter is no longer adopted. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. . 209 

Spirituous liquors distilled and sold in the 
city paid no tax to Government until 1790, n® *«,?« 
when this Mehal was instituted by Mr. ?"o" «nt"i 

^ 1790, then 

Douglass and let out by him for rupees 2,100 ^j^j^ for 
per year. At this time a duty was charged num. 
on each reservoir and fire place, besides a 
general tax on the distillery, but a remission 
was allowed during the Mohurrum, Ramazan, 
and Bad at which seasons the consumption 
was small, and the distillers therefore sus- 
pended their work. In 1 794 this tax amount- itg amount 
ed to rupees 5,696, and in 1799 to rupees " 
6,000, at which time it was estimated that 
3,200 quarts of Arrack were distilled daily. 
The difierent preparations of opium as Mud- Tuonopt- 
dud, &c. were first taxed in 1795, and 
opium itself in 1796. In 1793 the importers 
of ganjah paid a tax (Koot Mehal) of Rs. 2-4 
per maiind, and the venders of it in the city, 
a duty varying from two annas to one rupee 
per month. 

The following statement shews the amount 
of revenue of Dacca Jellalpore for the year 
1836-37. 



Land } Huzzooree Tpshil Rs. 269195 9 

Beveuue. ( Zillab Ditto 141154 4 bh Amount of 

: R.. 430349 5 2J revenue of 

Abkaree i Opium, Spirits, &c. ... 40765 3 I Dacca JeUl- 



um. 



Ditto. IStftRipi, 83265 8 



pore in 



. Ri. 124030 II 1 isaa.?, 

ToUl 554380 U 3^ 



The other branches of revenue are the 
Choukeedaree tax, the Ferries and Post office. 

2c 



21ft TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

Civil admi- CtvU Administration of the district from the 

nistration di- y* a i • /• ./-i » 

vided into two year 1765. — At the time of Company s acces^ 
or^uTCee sioD to the Dewanny the Civil administration 

and Nizamut. /• ^v -r* • i» t^ • j • 

01 the Provmce of Dacca was carried on m 

two departments, designated Huzzooree, and 

The former Nizamut. The former was under the pro- 

under the De- * 

wan at Moor- yincial Dcwan who resided at Moorshedabad. 

shedBbad. 

and transacted the business at Dacca by his 
deputy Rajah Heymut Sing. This officer 
had charge of the khalsa or crown portion of 
the public finances, and settled all disputes 
regarding revenue within his jurisdiction. 
The latter The afiairs of the Nizamut were conducted 

under the de- 

pury of Che by Jusscraut Khan, who acting as Naib or 
Vazim. deputy of the Nawaub Nazim presided over 

the Civil and Criminal Courts, and also col- 
lected a portion of the revenue, which was 
assigned to defray the expenses of his admi- 
nistration. 

Expfnse of The foUowiug is a statement of the annual 

the public es- ^ 

tabiishmenta expenditure connected with the public esta- 

at, Dacca in * * 

1769. blishments at Dacca, as settled by Mr. Sykes» 

and the Native Ministers at Moorshedabad 
in 1769. 

1 . Allowance to state prisoners 
whose release was obtained 

by Lord Clive in 1767, Rs. 34,755 15 

2. Court of Justice of six per- 
sons appointed to examine, 
and decide all causes, such 



Carried over Rs. 34,755 15 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 211 

Brought over Rs. 34,755 15 
as quarrels and disputes, 
which are perpetually occur- 
ring among the lower classes 
of inhabitants at 50 Rupees 
each per month, 3,600 

3. Charges Dewanny, 25,000 

4. Charges Cutcherry: for 
pykes, sirdars, munseeas 
and servants, including sta- 
tionery, carpets, oil, mats, 

&c 8,500 

5. Charity, * 8,388 

a. Charges General, 8,618 15 2 

7. Jusseraut Khan's allowance 

at Rs. 6,000 per month, 72,000 

8. Maha Sing's Provincial De- 
wan at Rs. 4,000 ditto (of 
this sum Rajah Heymut Sing 

received Rs. 500 per month,) 48,000 

2,08,862 14 

9. Supervisor's Establiphment, 36,500 

Total, 2,45,362 14 2- 



In September 1769, Mr. Kellsal was ap- Mr.Keiisai 

* , * appointed in 

pointed supervisor of revenue on a salary of i769 supem- 

1 • 1 • t 11 sor of revenue 

1 ,000 per month, with entire control over both and controller 
departments of Huzzooree and Nizamut. His partments 
establishment consisted of three European Nizamut. 
covenanted servants, who acted as assistants esubi^hm'cnt? 
and Persian translators, an English writer : 
1 principal and 2 under sheristadars, 1 1 mo- 



212 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

hurrers, 3 aumeens, 1 naib and 2 moonshees. 
He superintended the collections which were 
now made by aumils in the Mofussil, and 
was the medium of communication between 
Jusseraut Khan and the Native Ministers at 
Moorshedabad, in all affairs connected with 
his criminal jurisdiction. Prior to this time, 
the naib uncontrolled by any superior au«- 
thority, had exercised the power of life and 
death, but on the appointment of Mr. Kellsal, 
the proceedings of his Court, in the more 
serious criminal cases, were submitted through 
the Resident at the Durbar and the Council 
at Moorshedabad to native ministers, for con- 
firmation of the sentence awarded. The* 
transaction of all business in the Nizamut, in 
which persons belonging to foreign factories 
were concerned, was reserved for the special 
investigation of the supervisor. 

Succeeded lu 1771, Mr. HarHs succeeded Mr. Kellsal 
ini77L ""^ in the supervisorship, the salary of which was 

raised to Rs. 1,800- The state boats of the 
Nowarrah had been discontinued from the 
year 1769, and now the sinecure office of 
Wakanagur, and subsequently that of Ittysub 
were abolished. To check the abuses in the 
collection of the Sayer taxes, and particularly 
those on salt, betel-nut, and tobacco, a cove- 
nanted servant was appointed to superintend 
this branch of the revenue ; and to see that 
justice was impartially administered, another 
European officer was required to attend the 
Adawlut Cutcherry, M'hen important cases 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 213 

were to be decided. Mention is made of Great bodies 
large bodies oi dacoits on the rivers, and of fast the riven. 
their having hurkariis in the city to apprize 
them of the measures taken for their appre- 
hension. The Sunderbunds are represented 
as being infested with them, and the murder 
of a Captain Holland, on his passage to Cal- Capt Hoi- 

, . - . land murdered 

cutta, IS mentioned. At the commencement by them. 
of this year, a Dewan had been appointed in a Dewan 
place of the Aumils, who were recalled from place of the 

A *1 

the mofussil, and almost the whole of the 
revenue collected was at this time made over 
to the Dacca and Chittagong factories, the 
small balance being remitted to Moorshe* 
dabad by bills of exchange. The expense 
of keeping up the Dewanny boats was 
Rs. 40,000 per year : they were now reduced 
from 37 to 18 in number. 

In 1772, Mr. Lambert was appointed Su- Mr. Lam. 

J • A A /• ^v bert appointed 

pervisor, and m August of the same year was ir. 1772. and 
succeeded by Mr. Greuber, with the title of Mr! Greub^r 
Collector, in which capacity he continued to Tf Co^Uctor 
act until the Provincial Council was esta- 
blished. When the Company assumed the cbanjres in 
office of Dewan in the place of Mohammed ^^^ p"**'^^ ***■ 

* partmrnts on 

Reza Khan in this year, several chang:es were ^^^ company 

•^ o assuming the 

made in the public departments. ^^^^^e of De- 



wan. 



The principal was the institution of a Court institntion 
of Dewanny Adawlut, of which the Collector Dewanny 
was made the superintendent ; and where 
with the assistance of the native Dewan he 
tried civil suits, and took cognizance of such 



214 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 

cases, as had formerly been referred to Rajah 
Heymut Sing, the deputy chief of the Huz« 
zooree department. 

Jr.lmWarof In 1773 the Collector applied to Govern- 
wh^pfmider ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^ additional military force. There 
the district, were at this time about 10,000 Sunyassees 
collected in the vicinity of Moodapore,, plun- 
dering the country, and compelling the in- 
habitants to desert their villages and flee to 
the jungle for safety. The murder of a Cap- 
tain Thomas, and the defeat of a detachment 
of Sepoys by a body of these Sunyassees, are 
alluded to in the Collector's report. 

In 1774 the fhc Provincial Coimcil, of which Mr. Bar- 

Provincial ' 

iuh7**"***^' well was Chief, and Messrs. Purling, Thac- 
keray, Shakespear and Holland were Mem- 
bers, was established in December 1774. 
Revenue Naibs wcrc now employed to collect the 

collected by * v 

Naibs revenue, and to hold the Court of Dewanny 

Adawlut from which an appeal lay to the 

Appoint. Council, while the following appointments 

T^nant^ed At- wcrc made, and filled by European covenanted 

eiitautf. Assistants : I st — Buxey or Treasurer ; 2d— 

Assistant in the Revenue Department for the 

records of the proceedings ; 3 — Sub-Export 

Warehouse-keeper and occasional Assistant 

Revenue Department ; 4th — Assistant in the 

Export Warehouse and occasional Assistant 

. in Revenue Department ; 5th — Secretary ; 

6th — Accountant ; 7th — ^Assistant for the 

Records of the Dewanny Cutcherry ; 8th 

—Assistant to the Secretary ; 9th — Assistant 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



215 



to the Chief ; 10th — Persian Translator. Jus- 
serautKhan, who had throughout these several 
changes, presided over the Criminal Court, 
was continued in his office, with a Fouzdar 
and police establishment at his disposal for 
the apprehension of dacoits ; and in consi- 
deration of his advanced age, and his fidelity 
towards the Company's Government, he was 
allowed to retain the salary originally granted 
to defray the expense of the Nizamut depart- 
ment. The principal event in this year, was 
a dispute between the Chiefs of the English 
and French Factories arising out of the im- 
prisonment of a servant belonging to the 
former establishment. This quarrel which 
led to retaliatory measures by both parties, 
gave rise to a proclamation by Jusseraut Khan, 
that any native taking refuge in a foreign 
factory would be considered criminal, and 
punished on apprehension. It afterwards 
became the subject of discussion between the 
English and French Governments in Europe. 
The dak establishment is represented as being 
branched out into different departments, all 
independent and unconnected, and the expense 
partly defrayed by the Company and partly 
by taxes on Zemindars and farmers. It is 
described as being '* involved in a labyrinth 
of obscurity without check or system ; and 
the delays greater than those of a common 
cossid." Europeans had the privilege of 
franking letters. The only troops, the Com- 
pany had at Dacca at this time, were two 
Companies of Sepoys belonging to a corps at 



Jusseraut 
Khan conti- 
iiued in bit 
office. 



Dispute 
between the 
£ngli»h and 
French Fac- 
tories. 



Dak ettab. 
lishnnent, its 
inefficiency. 



Strength of 
the Military 
force at Dacca 
at this period. 



216 .TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Chittagong, but this force being inefficient, a 
Kegiment of Militia was raised and placed 
at the disposal of tlie Council. It consisted 
of six Companies, each one hundred strong, 
and was commanded by a Captain and Su- 
baltern, with a Native Adjutant, and a full 

Its duties, complement of Native Officers. Its duties 
appear to have consisted chiefly in guarding 
the cutcherries and manufacturing aurungs in 
the country, in escorting treasure, in prevent- 
ing the smuggling of salt, in executing the 
decrees of the Provincial Council and Fouj- 
daree Court, and in apprehending refractory 
Talookdars and Zemindars, who were in 
arrears of revenue. Among the other pub- 
lic measures of this period was the estab- 

Government Hshmeut of a Bank by Government. It was 

Bank estab- *^ 

lished. intended to afford relief to the ryotts and 

landed proprietors in the district from the 
exorbitant interest and exactions, to which 
they were subjected by the shroffs, in the 
valuation of coins, and advancing loans o£ 

The Arcot Mio^^X- The Arcot rupee was at this time the 
rupee the cur- curreucv iu the eastern part of Bengal, and 

rent com of •' * o ' 

the district comprised altogether ten different descrip- 
tions of this coin, including English, French 
and Dutch Arcots. Cowries supplied the 
place of copper, and the whole quantity 
of gold in circulation did not exceed 50,000 
rupees. The Arcot rupee was the coin in 
which rents were paid by ryotts, and advances 
made to the weavers and spinners. In every 
village there was one or more poddars, to 
whom these coins were submitted for valua- 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 217 

tion prior to their exchange in the city into 
siccas, in which the Government revenue was 
paid. The batta varied according to the 
fluctuation of the different denominations, and 
at times was. as high as 16 per cent. The 
Bank does not appear to have afforded the Govern. 
relief anticipated, and it was therefore given Stabiished. 
up about one year after ^ its institution. In 
tliis year a party of troops und^r the com- 
mand of Captain Ellerton, took the capital of 
Jynteah. In 1775 Naibs were appointed to jj^l^^l^^ 
the different Aurungs to decide cases, in ^^^^ ^^^ 
which weavers were concerned, and with the ?«cide ewes 

in which the 

exception of disputes relating to the revenue, weavers were 

, concerned. 

they were empowered to decide cases to the 
amountof 100 rupees, and in all below 10 ru- Their decu 
pees, their decision was final. Mr. Barwell ca^es b'dow'^ 
who was appointed to the Supreme Council in '"**'^*•• 
this year, was succeeded in the office of Chief 
by Mr. Rous, and in the Commercial depart- 
ment by Mr. Greuber. On the appointment 
of M. R. Khan as Naib Nazim of Bengal, 
at the end of this year, the tax levied on Ze- 
mindars for the dieting of prisoners was abo- 
lished. Of 110 prisoners in the Dacca jail offences of 
at this time, 87 were decoits, 15 were con- ln*ihe"Dac« 
fined for murder, and 8 for thefts, and in a ^""^ 
minute by the Chief of the Council, it is 
stated that of the above number, 95 were at 
work on the roads and in irons, " whose guilt 
had never been established before a Court of 
Judicature, and that many of them had been 
60 circumstanced for nine years/' The nuz- 

2d 



218 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

zurs received by the Provincial Council, at 
the Pooneah or day of annual settlement 
with the Zemindars were at this time made 
over to defray the expense of repairing the 
roads in the vicinity of the town. 

«ioh^bltween' '^^^ principal event in 1777 was a collision 
compiys"*"^ between the King's and Company's Courts, 
Courts. which appears to have attracted the attention 

of the higher authorities, both here and in 
England. Mr. Peat who resided at Dacca 
in the three-fold capacity of Attorney, She* 
riflf Depute, and Master in Chancery, in at- 
tempting to serve a writ on a person of the 
name of Juggernaut, the Peshkar of the Fouj-» 
daree Court, at the house of Seyed Ali Khan, 
the Provincial Foujdar, was resisted ; and in 
the scuffle that ensued between the two parties, 
Meer Houssein, a relation of the Foujdar's, 
was unfortunately shot. The issuing of the 
writ originated in a case, in which a man of 
the name of Kyeroo was confined for some 
misdemeanour by Juggernaut, and who, 
effecting his escape, proceeded to Calcutta, 
where he instituted a suit against Juggernaut 
for trespass and false imprisonment. 

In 1778 the In July 1778 the French Factory surren- 

Freiich Fao. , , ^ . ^ ^ ^ , "^ 

tory surren. dcred to Licuteuant Cowe ; and a party of the 
EogiiflhV * Militia under the orders of Mr. Lodge, the 
Secretary of the Provincial Council, took pos- 
session of Jugdea, (a branch of the Dacca 
Factory) in the district of Tipperah. Their 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 219 

property in Dacca consisted of 26 houses, and 
a gunge yielding rupees 300 per year. They 
had also houses at Tezgong and Backergunge. 

In 1779 Mr. Shakespear succeeded Mr. i77». 
Bous as Chief, and Messrs. Holland, Hatch, 
Lodge and Day were appointed Members of 
the Provincial Council. 

' In 1781 the Council was abolished. Mr. nsi tbe 
Day was appointed Collector and Magistrate, abolished. 
and a Court of Judicature was established, of 
which Mr. Duncanson was the first Judge. 
The Foujdars and Thannadars were recalled 
and the Judge acted as a Magistrate in the 
apprehension of decoits. In this year the 
Dutch Factory was taken possession of, and The Duf.h 
in 1783 the Militia was disbanded, and a J^'SnlT 
Sebundy or Provincial Corps raised in its 
place. The Dutch property consisted of 31 
houses in the town and a house at Tezgong. 

From the year 1781 to 1839 fifty-nine Civil i78! to i839. 
servants have held the ofiice of Magistrate, 
but of this number thirty have only been in 
temporary charge. The average duration, 
therefore, of eacli Magistrate's appointment 
has been two years : the longest period four 
years and twenty-seven days. The number 
of Collectors for the same time was thirty- 
seven. Twenty of this number have been 
acting Collectors: the longest period, for 
which a permanent Collector has held office, 
is six years and forty-five days. 



220 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

the jurii. The jurisdiction of the Magistrate is divided 

diction of the . ^ -.,- , _^ . 

Sdagistrace. mto 20 Thaiinahs or Police districts, of which 
number 10 are in the city, and the remaining 
10 in the Mofussil. The number of chouke- 
dars employed in the district is 2,619, 189 of 
whom are stationed in the city, besides 90 
burkendazes and 10 jemadars. 



,, ^.^^'^^^of The Civil Judicial establishment of Dacca 

the jurisdi<i- 

tioii. and Fureedpore comprises a jurisdiction of 

Number of 4,800 milcs iu extent. The principal officers 

civil function- . >r^. ., irn. ti 

•ries attached attached to it, arc 1 iJivil and Session Judge, 
2 Principal Sudder Ameens, 1 additional ditto 
Expenditure, and 9 Moousiffs. The total annual expense 
Rs. 77,741-11-9.. The registering of deeds 
yielded Rs. 1,770 in the year 1796-7 : at pre- 
sent it gives about Rs. 450 per year. 

roiifctors The Collector's Office comprises the seven 
i?8hme^'^^ Minor Departments of ffreasury, Dewanny 
Slier ista, Moonshee Khana, Nazerut, Record 
Office, Abkaree and Stamp Office. The 
number of persons employed in it, exclusive 
of the Collector and 3 Deputies, is 93. The 
total monthly expense is Rs. 4,099-10-$. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 221 



THIRD SECTION— CHAPTER VHI. 

Population — Hindoos — Mahommedans — 

Christians. 

The population of the district has never „ , . 

* * , Population 

been accurately ascertained. Accordins: to ®i**»« district 
a calculation made by Mr; Douglass, the Purre^dpore 

ill I TQ!2 

<Ik)llector, in 1792, the united Zillahs of Dacca 
and Furreedpore contained 9,38,712 inhabi- 
tants, of which number 3,07,144 were males, 
and 310,608, females; and 1 ,75,752 were male 
and 1,45,208, female children. In 1824 the i>oini824 
Superintendent of Police estimated the popu- 
lation of this district alone, at 5,12,385, while 
according to returns made by the Magistrate's 
Daroghas in 1837 it only amounted, including d^. i„ 1037^ 
the city, to 4,03,609. This latter estimate, 
there can be no dQubt, is under the actual 
number, and of the two it is probable that the 
former is the nearest approximation to the * 
amount of population in the present day. 
With the assistance of Mr. Grant, the Magis- 
trate, I commenced a census of the district 
in 1838, but I obtained the returns only of 
25 villages before I left the station. These 
25 villages, I may mention, contained 833 
houses and 5,152 inhabitants, thus giving a 
proportion of Q\ persons to one house. As 
this census, however, was made in one of the 
most populous thannas, the proportion, no 
doubt, is too high to be tali^en as an average 



222 TOPOGRAPHY Ol? DACCA. 

applicable to the district generally. Accord- 
ing to a census of the city, which was made 
at the same time, the proportion there was 
not more than three persons to one house. 
Assuming therefore 4^ to be the mean, and 
calculating the houses to be 1,02,477, the 
number reported by the Superintendent of 
Police in 1824, the total population of the 
Population district will be 4,61,146. The population of 
Dacca. the city itsclf, exclusive of the villages in the 

suburbs, amounted to 60,617, viz. 

Hindoos. Mussulmauna. 

Males, 15,7JJ5 15,687 

Females, 12,419 16,776 



28,154 32,463 

of this number 17,675 were under 15 years 
of age. The population of the villages in 
the suburbs was 7^689. 

MarriR^ei, The uumbcr of lA^rriageSy births and deaths 

births and ^ .. 

deaths for one for ouc year, was as tollows : 

year, • 

Population* Marriages. Births. Deaths. 

60,617 370 628 541 

The annual mortality in the city as deduc- 
ed from this census is in the proportion of 
about one death to 1,120 of the population. 
As no census of the European population of 
the station has hitherto been kept, no true 
estimate of the ratio of mortality among tliem 
can be drawn from the registers of the church. 
It may be mentioned that there are 450 graves 
in the Protestant burying ground, which is af 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 223 

least 114 years old, there being a tomb in it 
of the date of 1724. This is at the rate of 
four funerals per year ; but as the number of 
English residents at the Station prior to 1 765 
did not much exceed that number, we may 
infer that the proportion during the last 70 
years has been considerably greater than 
the above rate. The proportion of deaths to 
admissions into the Regimental Hospital be- 
tween 1828 and 1838 is one to 38.24, which 
gives a ratio per cent, of 2.63. Tliis is about 
one-kalf less than the ratio of deaths among 
the Zillah prisoners as calculated by Mr. 
Hutchinson* for the year 1833: the general 
ratio among them for that year being 4.65. 

The number of marriages, baptisms, and 
funerals registered in the Roman Catholic 
Church at Bhowal from 1801 to 1837 inclu- 
sive, was — 

«^fml!!!i'1r Marriages. Baptisms. Funerals. ^o- ^o. do. 

estimated at «* *- as registered 

5,000 938 3,208 2,718 i;; the Roman 

Church at 

The following is extracted from the regis- jyl^l^ at 
ters of the Roman Catholic Church at Hous- "o"««»»»b»<i- 
sanabad in the district of Furreedpore, from 
1818 to 1837 inclusive. 

5,000 545 2,148 i,002 

The proportion of marriages to baptisms is Hindoos. 
1 to 3.42 at Bhowal, and 1 to 3.94 at IIous^ 

Hutchinson on Indian Jtils. 



224 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA* 



Instances 
of longevity. 



sanabad. Of instances of longevity, it may. 
be mentioned that there are three persons 
in the city, viz. two Hindoos and one Mussal-. 
man, who are said to be above 100 years of 
age, and a considerable number who are 
upwards of 80. No great reliance however 
can be placed on the assertions of the natives 
-on this head, and as instances of exaggeration 
on this subject may be quoted the following 
from the Annals of the Portuguese. " In 1618, 
^* died at Bengalla, that Moor, so famous 
** for his age, being about 300 years old, whea 
" Nunna de Cunna took Diu, which was 60 
" years before that time. It is reported there 
" are others of 200 years old thereabouts, but 
" we found only one woman of 100 years, who 
'^ had married that same year, having buried 
" seven husbands before." 



BrahminB 
from (/Anoge 
invited by 
Adisur. 



Hindoos. This class are most numerous 
in the southern division of the district. 
There is a tradition among them to the effect, 
that Adisur finding that the original Brah- 
mins of the country engaged in the occupa- 
tions of the lower castes, and were incapable 
of performing some religious ceremonies 
which he wished to celebrate, banished them 
from Bikrampore and invited into his king- 
dom five learned Brahmins from Canoje, a 
city in the western provinces. These persons 
whose names were Sandrylo, Kasyop, Bats- 
chop, Borodwaj and Saboono, are said to 
have come into the district with their sons 
and families, amounting to 59 persons in 



^ TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 225 

number. They had certain villages and 

tracts of land in different parts of Bengal 

assigned for their maintenance, according to 

which their descendants were subsequently 

separated into classes, distinguished by the 

names of their respective districts. Bollalsein, 

whose dynasty succeeded to that of Adisur 

according to the popular tradition, was the 

person who made this classification, and who 

also remodelled the the different inferior 

-castes, as they are constituted at present. 

The Brahmins were divided by him into 

Rarhi, Barondro and Bey dick. The first of The Brah- 

these classes was further subdivided by him into cUesw. 

into the two distinct ranks of Kolins and Shro- 

triyos, and the second or that of Barondro 

into the ranks Koolin and Caup. The Rarhi 

Koolins, or aristocracy of this part of the 

country, originally consisted of twenty-two 

families of the Kanoje Brahmins, further 

separated into two grades distinguished by 

the appellation of Koolins and Gaun Koolins, KooUn Brah. 

while the Shrotriyos, comprismg thirty seven 

families, were divided into four classes called 

Sydho, Seedhu, Suseedhu, and Dorhee ; A 

Rarhi Koolin has the privilege of marrying 

four wives without losing his Koolinship, 

one of them must be the daughter of a Shro- 

triyo, but he is at liberty to select the others 

from the daughters of Koolins of his own 

rank. If he marries more than this number. Marrying: 

he forfeits his true Koolinship and becomes a prescribed 

" Sukrit Bhanga," or broken caste Koolin, and wl^efl^ose 

may without further prejudice or loss of caste ^^^' 

2 E 



226 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

marry an unlimited number of the daughtem 

of those, who like himself, have forfeited their 

The offspring KooHnship or of their descendants. The lat- 

of rhe Siikrit t m - *i. i • t* 

Bhanga Koo- tor Or the oflFspring of the " Suknt Bhanga' 
roerous. Koolins ffom intermarrying with each other, 

and with the superior castes have become very 
numerous since the time of BoUalsen, and they 
now constitute a third class called Bonsuj, so 
that the Rarhi Brahmins of the present day 
consist of three ranks, viz. Koolins, Shrotriyo 
and Bonsuj ; and the Barondro in like man- 
Marriage por- ner, of Koolins, Caup and Bonsuj. A Koo- 
aKooiiiiBrah- Hu marrying tlic daughter of a Bousuj receives 

min in propor* . i •■ /. . « 

tion to the With her a sum of money proportionate to the 
vi'ives he may numbor of wives he happens to have at the 
time of the marriage. If for instance he re- 
ceives 1500 rupees with his first Bonsuj wife, 
he perhaps will only get 1400 with the second, 
the amount gradually decreasing with each 
successive marriage until it falls to 40 or 30 ru'^ 
pees. He considers that he confers a high 
honor on a Bonsuj Brahmin by marrying his 
daughter, and he therefore leaves it to his fa- 
ther-in-law to defray the expense of maintain^ 
The Koolins i^g ^is wifc and children. The only pecuni- 

onliged to give " , ^ tr 

dowers to ry obligation that the Koolin incurs by a 

their daugh- J ^ ^ . . • 

utB. matrimonial connection of this kind is the 

provision of marriage portions for his daugh- 
ters. The male issue alone are raised to the 
rank of the father, and the daughters, there- 
fore, must have money to induce the Shro- 
triyo and Bonsuj youth to accept them in 
marriage. Few of the Koolins however, pos- 
sess the means of bestowing dowers on all 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 227 

their daughters, and the consequence is that 
by for the largest proportion of the female 
offspring of Kpolins by Bonsuj wives, remaiq Without 
single or unmarried. The greater number of main unmairi' 
the Koolins in this district are of the Sukrit 
Bhanga caste, and a few of them have as many 
as 50 wives. Polygamy, however, is carried Poiygimy 
to a less extent here, than in districts where th'sn^n oTher 
the Barondros constitute the majority of the 
Brahmins. This is attributed to the great ex- xbe cause. 
pense attending marriages, on account of the 
number of Ghuttucks in the district. These ohuttucks or 
Ghuttucks or registrars of Koolin's marriages, KooUn mar- 
are all entitled to a fee on the occasion of a "*«®*' 
Koolin's marriage. They keep a register of 
pedigrees called •' Molugrauth," in which the 
lineage of every Koolin family in the country 
is recorded from the time of BoUalsen down 
to the present day ; and upon this point there- 
fore, they are always consulted by parties 
about to contract a marriage. Most of the 
Ghuttucks are Bonsuj Brahmins, and follow ^he Ohut- 
uo other occupation but that of registering Bonsu'BrJh! 
marriages. There are upwards of 750 houses 
or families of them in Bickrampore, and al- 
though the elders or chiefs of the small com- 
munities, into which they are divided, are the 
only persons that keep these registers, yet aU 
claim a gratuity on the occasion of a marriage, 
and seldom fail to be present at the nuptials 
of a Koolin, when they consider it worth their 
trouble to attend. A Ghuttuck is entitled to 
a fee from a pure Koolin at any time he 
may choose to present himself, during two 



mins. 



228 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

years after his marriage, but he can onl^ 
claim it from a '' Sukrit Bhanga Koolin" at 
the celebration of the ceremony. The amount 
of the donation is always regulated by what a 
Pundit Ghuttuck consents to accept. 

The Bejdick The Bcydick Brahmins were originally the 
priests or readers of the Vedahs to the five 
tribes of Kanoje Brahmins, with whom they 
came into the district. As the original Brah* 
mins of Bengal had been exiled by Adisur on 
account of their ignorance of religious cere- 
monies, so the Beydicks, it is alleged, were 
excluded on the same grounds, by BoUalsen, 
from the ranks of Koolin, Shrotriyo and Caup» 
into which he divided the Rarhi and Baron- 
dro Brahmins. This is the version of their 
history which is usually given by the Ghut- 
tucks, but the Beydicks themselves assert that 
they opposed the right assumed by BoUalsen 
of remodelling the castes, and therefore declin- 
ed conforming to the distinctions conferred on 
their brethren. The Beydicks are pretty nu- 
merous in Bickrampore, and are chiefly pua- 

Moitiy Fun. dits and astronomers Forming but one class. 

ditt aiid astro- i /» j i i ' ^ 

vomers. they are less fettered by the rules and usages 

of caste, and with regard to the marriage of 
•their daughters they are not subject to the 
pecuniary restrictions imposed on their less 
fortunate brethren the Rarhi and Barondro 
Brahmins, 

Tbe original The Original or exiled Brahmins of the 

Brahmins of n i r>i 

country were called '' Sath-suttee»" from their 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA^ 229 

consisting of 700 houses or families. Most of the country 
them after their banishment settled in the .uttee. 
country to the north of the Berhampooter, but 
many also were scattered over the province, 
and after the time of BoUalsen they formed 
an alliance with the Rarhi Koolins to whose 
sons their daughters were given in marriage. 
There is still a considerable number of them 
in Tipperah, Mymensing, and Sylhet, and one 
or two families, I believe, are to be met with 
in almost every large village in the province* 



The Barondro Brahmins are few in number The Baron- 

^1 • 1 • ^ • ^ dro firftbmins. 

m this district. 



The Bhaid^ caste ranks next to the Brah- The Bhaide 
mins in this district. Those belonging to it 
place it between the Brahmins and Voishyu, 
and disclaim all connection or relationship 
with the Sudras, from whom it is said to have 
sprung. It owes its superior rank, it is sup- 
posed, to Bollalsen, who belonged to it himself, 
and who at the time he remodelled the other 
castes, raised it ,to the place it now holds 
among the grades of Hindoo society. The in- 
vestiture of the poita was purchased for this 
caste about 100 years ago by Rajbullub, the 
Deputy Naib and Dewan of the Dacca 
province. He invited for this purpose all the 
learned and influential pundits of Nuddeah 
and Benares to his residence at Rajanagur, 
and expended upwards of five lacs of rupees 
oa the occasion* ft is said, however, that 
the poita of the Bhaides consists only of 



230 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

two instead of three bundles of thread which 
is the number in the Brahminical cord. 
The Bhaides constitute a wealthy class of 
Hindoos in this district: they are chiefly 
Talookdars, Dewans, and Physicians. 

The Khais- The Kkaistuos Or Kayets are considered 

tvas or Kay- i i • i o» i 111 

ets. here as belonging to the iSudras, although 

they claim for themselves a higher rank. 
Like the Brahmins they are subdivided into 
classes which are distinguished by the names 
of Koolins, Moolies and Bhataturas, and fol- 
lowing the example of the Rarhis, they have 
Ghuttucks who keep registers of pedigrees. 
Most of them in this district are attorn ies, 
pleaders, writers, accountants and treasurers 
employed by the Zemindars in the country 
and about the different Courts in the city. 
The Bhataturas or lower class engage as. 
cooks and bearers in native families, and 
many are employed as confectioners, and 
retailers of rice, salt and ghee in the town. 

The Sudras. The Sudros comprizc the nine pure castes 
or Novosakh of BoUalsen. Of these the 

The Tantces. Tantecs, OT wcavcrs, form the most numerous 

class in the district. They are divided into 

The Jhap- *^^ ^^^ Called Jhappauiya and Chotba- 

c*hotbBgyia &y*^» ^^^ neither eat or marry with each 
other. The former derive their name from 
a custom peculiar to them of carrying the 
bridegroom in their marriage processions 
upon a Jhappa or kind of throne instead 
pf a palankin. They are numerous in the 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 231 

City and at the different manufacturing 
aurungs in the country. The latter or Chot- 
bagyia were originally Kayets, by whom 
they were expelled from the caste on account 
of their practising weaving : they are scatter- 
ed through the district, and in the city the 
total number of their houses does not exceed 
fifty. The Sankarees or workers in shells. The Sanka- 
rank next to the weavers in point of wealth 
and numbers. They all reside in one bazar 
or street, where they have been settled since 
the foundation of the city : they are an in- 
dustrious and hard working race, and have * 
the character of being very rich but ex- 
ceedingly penurious. Most of them are of 
a fairer complexion than the natives in 
general, and in some of their families there 
are a few Albinos. The Kamavs or ironsmiths The Kamars. 
constitute a numerous class of artisans in the 
city, but the greater number of them are em- 
ployed as gold and silversmiths. The art of 
alloying metals in this country is said to have 
been first practised in Blckrampore in the 
timeof BoUalsen. The Khangsarees or bra- The Khan 
ziers and coppersmiths of Dacca have the re- ®*'®^** 
putation of being good artificers and excel in 
making small boxes and hookah stands. Most 
of them belong to the district of Mymensing. 
The Koomars or potters carry»on their busines 
in the suburbs, where they make toys and ™*"- 
earthen articles, that are shaped by the hand. 
Cooking utensils and vessels that are wrought 
by the wheel are made by up country people 
called Kottah-Koomars — the workmen that 



The Koo- 



232 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

make idols are natives of Kishnagur, and 
generally earn three times as much as that 

Sucrdop Ge- acquired by the other potters. Sugdop Go- 
wallahs are numerous in the town: they 
purchase milk from the ryotts in the country, 
and also keep cows in the neighbouring 
villages. Aheeru Gowallahs who form a dis- 
tinct caste are not numerous in this part of 
the country : the few that are settled in 
the town keep the Deswallee breed of cows 
and sell ghee. A few of this caste occasion- 
ally visit the eastern districts, in the capacity 
of cattle doctors : they generally come about 
the commencement of the cold season, and 
their services are in great requisition among 
the ryotts, for sprains, rheumatism, and ab* 
cesses in their cattle ; the chief remedial 
means they adopt are acupuncture, and the 

TheMaift. cautcry. The caste of JMalakars consists 
of gardeners, and of the makers of artificial 
jQowers, garlands and crowns for marriage 
processions. The latter also make fireworks, 
and are generally employed to assist the 
Mussulmaun pyrotechnists when there is 
much work of this kind in hand. The manu- 
facture of these marriage decorations is a 
monopoly in the hands of certain families of 
Malakars, who have been settled in the city 
from time immemorial : the town is divided 
by them into districts, which they supply 
with their wares, to the exclusion of all inter- 
lopers or persons engaged in the same busi- 

The N«. ness. Most of the Napeeat caste come from 
peeat cwte. ^^^ Tippcrah district, and practise as surgeons. 



i 



The Gunn. 
ku8 or Aina- 

gee. 



TOCOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 233 

as wellaa barbers, and the'^reater numberof the The Bamet. 
JBameSy the last of the nine pure castes encroach 
on the province of the Tamboolees, being retail- 
ers as well as cultivators of pan or betel leaf. 

The several castes that are considered castes con- 
impure, comprize a great many classes of JjfrT^ *"" 
people following various trades and occu- 
pations, and constituting the great body of 
the Hindoo population of the district. The 
Gunukus or Assagee are degraded brahmins, 
employed in making, painting and decorating 
idols. They copy the almanacks that are 
prepared by the Bickrampore pundits : they 
are also astrologers and fortune tellers, and 
are the persons whose services are so fre- 
quently in requisition among the natives to 
discover thefts, which they do by subjecting 
the suspected parties to the ordeal of chewing 
rice. The Ugradanu brahmins, from their The Uto- 
accepting the dan or first gifts offered at a 
Sbraddu, are considered still more impure 
and degraded than the preceding class. The 
few that reside in the district find a subsis- 
tence by attending funeral obsequies : the 
gifts usually presented to them consist of 
grain, oil seeds, clothes, a small piece of gold 
or silver, but before they are entitled to them 
they have to partake of the boiled " rice put- 
rahna," which is consecrated to the corpse. 
The caste of Soobernubuniks comprizes most The Soo- 
of the poddars in the city, and those who 
keep shops for English goods ; they also 
deal in cloth, precious stones, &c. The 

2 F 



danu Brah- 
mins. 



beruubuniks. 



234 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

The Soun- Soundikus or Sowluks are divided into Sa< 

dikus or Sow- » r> i i i . i 

lukt. rondro ISow vho deal in salt, grain, sugar and. 

betel-nut, and keep shops in villages ; and* 
Rarhi Sow who are distillers of spirits. A 
few of them are wealthy and have Zemin- 

idZ*** ^'^'' darees in the neighbourhood. The Kapallees 

weave sackcloth and manufacture ropes, twine 
and bags ; , many of them also are employed 

The Pateeais. as bullock drivcrs. The Paieeals make the 
seetul-patee or fine mats on which the na- 
tives sleep, and both men and women work 

iie«!^^ ^*^*^" ^* ^^^ business. The Patonees are ferrymen, 

they make baskets when their services are 

not in requisition at the ferries, and also buy 

The Kai- ^^^ scU fish in the country. The Kaibortoa 

^^^*' are divided into the two distinct classes of 

Chasa KaiborotSy ploughmen or ryotts, and 

Jalwah Kaihortos or fishermen. The latter 

are considered the best boatmen in this part 

The Tarn- of the couutrv. The Tamhoolees here do 

Dooieea. '^ 

not confine themselves to the selling of pan 
or betel leaf which is the office assigned to 
their caste, but follow the business of Tey^ 
palleesy who like the Barondro SoWy deal 

Gundbuniki. in oil, grain, salt, &c. in the city. Gund- 
buniks, or retailers of spices, and drugs, are 

Dhobees. Settled principally in the town. Dhobees^ 
or washermen, reside in the city, Sunergong 
and Dumroy, where they are employed by 
the merchants to bleach muslins. In the 
country washermen are employed only by 
the wealthier native families and are paid in 
money and grain. At the time the Company 
were engaged in trade here, about three lacs 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 235 

of rupees were expended annually among 
this class; and a few of the families that were 
then employed at the Factory still possess a 
good deal of property in the town. Sootars^ Sbotars. 
or carpenters form a numerous body, and are 
engaged principally in felling wood in the 
neighbouring forests, sawing timber, building 
boats and making ploughs. Dhomes, or burn* Dhomes. 
ers of the dead, are confined to the city : they 
also keep herds of swine,#nake baskets, and 
are employed to kill dogs. Nearly allied to the 
Dhomes are the Choomars or workers in lea- choomaw and 
ther, and Bhoeemallees, or sweepers : the former fr**s w(!12pe« * 
prepare hides, make shoes, harness, drums 
and catgut strings for the bows used in clean* 
ing cotton, and act as musicians in marriage 
and other processions : and most of the latter 
are employed as scavengers in the town. 
Belonging to the caste of Chandals (a very chandais. 
numerous body of low Hindoos in this part of 
the country) are the greater number of ryotts 
in Bhowal and other estates, in the northern 
division, and also a large proportion of the 
grass-cutters, gardeners, boatmen, bearers of 
palankins and dhoolees in the city and dis- 
trict. The Joogees constitute another nnme- The Joogees. 
rous class of low caste Hindoos in this district 
and in Mymensing. Like all the other in- 
ferior castes they have brahmins of their 
own to celebrate their marriages and poojahs, 
but contrary to the practice of all the worship- 
pers of Brahma, instead of burning, they bury 
their dead. The grave is dug of a circular 
shape, and the corpse is interred in a sitting 



238 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

posture, and along with it are deposited a 
small jar of water, a hookah, and a chattah. 
The history of this caste is involved in great 
obscurity. The tradition is, that they are 
descendants of a Sunnyassee, who after along 
course of penance and separation from the 
world becoming tired of this mode of life, 
broke through his Jog and returned to his 
wife and family. The mendicant Joogees 
also bury their 4ead, but whether they 
observe the same ceremonies I am not aware. 
Dr. B. Hamilton considers the latter to have 
been originally the priesthood of the Pal 
Rajahs, who were Bhuddists, and it isprobable 
that the two classes of Joogees which are now 
distinct, constituted one tribe formerly and 
settled in this part of the country along with 

Moitiywe*. '^^ Booucah Rajahs. The Joogees are met 
▼•»• with ^throughout Bengal, but they are most 

numerous in the districts on the eastern side 
of the Ganges. They are all weavers, and the 
women as well as the men work at the loom, 
They make the common coarse country cloths, 
they use starch made of boiled rice instead 
ofKhoee, on which account they are regarded 
by the other weavers, as an exceedingly 
The Gut- impure race. The Gurwarus are a class of 
people peculiar to the district. They gain a 
livelihood by killing otters, turtles, porpoises 
and alligators, the former for the sake of 
their skins, and the two latter for the oil which 
they extract by boiling, and sell for medicinal 
purposes. The weapon they use is a small 
spear c&Ued Teetha, with which they caa 



warm. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA* 237 

strike an object at a distance of Heveral 
hundred yards. From their expertness in 
the use of this weapon, the Gurwams are a 
terror to river decoits, and in former times 
merchants never ventured on a journey to 
Calcutta without a few of this class on board 
their boats. The Bhudiyas^ another low and jj^^ b^mau 
impure caste, are numerous in this part of the ^*'' 
country. It is difficult to determine whether 
they are Hindoos or Mussulmauns, their 
religious sentiments, apparently, being adapt- 
ed to those prevalent in the country they 
settle in : a considerable proportion of them 
here profess to be followers of the Prophet, 
and like the Gurwarus worship the river 
deity " Bhuddur." The Bhudiyas reside on 
the water throughout the year, and move 
about from place to place generally in parties 
of eight or ten boats, and according to a 
custom among them, boats parting company 
or anchoring at a distance from the fleet at 
night have to pay a fine before they are 
re-admitted. The Bhudiyas practise a great ArpexceiieDt 
variety of arts. They are excellent divers, 
and in the cold season are engaged chiefly in 
fishing for fresh water muscles. Of the 
small pearls they find, they make ornaments occaaionaiiy 
for the nose and ears, and the shells, which are ^"^ p*"*** 
applied to a number of domestic purposes 
among the natives, are sold by them in the 
bazars. They sell bwds, trinkets, tutenag 
and tin rings, necklaces of tiger's claws, with 
which the natives are fond of adorning their 
children, medicines and spices, and also make 



238 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

Different the Haniias or bamboo combs which the 

arts practised i • i /. , . 

by the Bhu. weavcrs use to separate the threads of their 
webs. They practice cupping, the instru- 
ments they use for this purpose, consisting oi 
the sharp teeth of the Cankilla fish (Esox 
Cancilla) to puncture the skin, and the tip of a 
cow's horn with which thev draw off the blood 
by suction. The Bhudiyas are likewise expert 
hunters and fowlers, and by snares and various 
means kill birds for the sake of their feathers. 
They amuse the public with tricks of leger- 
demain, hocus pocus, bear and monkey 
dancing, and when they fail to make a liveli- 
hood in this way, they generally betake them- 
Resernbie sclvfis to Stealing. Like their brethren, the 

theGjp«ie«. gipsies in Other couutrics, they are partial to 
poultry, and their boats are generally well 
stocked with fowls and ducks, they eat all 
kinds of animal food, and are much addicted 
to the use of ganjah and spirituous liquors, and 
consequently they are regarded as a very im- 
pure race. The Baughmaras, or tiger killers, 
and the Bhindoos, who search for grain con- 
cealed in the burrows made by rats, both 
belong to the Bhudiya caste. 

aJd^^'Sunli I» the forests of the northern division of 
tribes. jjjg district there reside two tribes of people 

that differ widely in their features and gene- 
ral character from any of the classes, that 
have yet been mentioiped. They possess, th6 
prominent cheek bones, the flat face, and 
narrow and oblique eyelids of the Mongolian 
variety of the human species, and are altoge* 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 239 

tlier a much stouter am) more hardy race than Tbe Koonch 
the Hindoos or Mussulmauns of the neigh- uib«e. ^^ ""** 
bouring country. They are called Koonch 
and Rajbunsi, and doubtless are sprung from 
the same origin as the tribes of the same 
names in Rungpore and Assam. They are 
the aboriginal inhabitants of the northern 
division of the district, and the last remnant 
in this part of the country of the population 
of the ancient kingdom of Kamroop, which 
as has been already observed extended down 
to the Boorigonga. Dr. B. Hamilton, in 
speaking of the Koonch and Rajbunsi tribes 
of Dinagepore, mentions that the tradition 
there is, that they are Kheytriyos who escaped 
from the persecution of Prosuram by fleeing 
to China, and that their princes called " N'ftr," 
pretend to be descendants of the god Siva. 
The Koonch of this district appear to belong 
to the class called ** Pani Koonch'' in Rung- 
pore; they are a poor ignorant race, who 
know nothing of their own history nor have 
any traditions regarding their ancestors. 
They live in the heart and along the borders xh^^ir prjn- 
of the forests of Bhowal, Cossimpore, and reMdence!* "'^ 
Attyah, and throughout the whole tract of 
jungle as far as Moodapore, and notwith- 
standing the unhealthiness of this part of the 
country, they are in general robust and strong, 
and suffer much less from miasma, than their 
neighbours in the same part of the district. 
With the axe and hoe they clear away jungle, 
and cultivate rice, oil seeds and cotton : they 
also prepare charcoal, and collect deer's horns 



240 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

junX'nd* '^^'''^ *^^y *^^ ^^ ^^^^^ for spirits, at the 
wMte isuds. weekly markets held in the vicinity of the 

forests. The Koonch are averse to paying 
rent for the land, they bring into cultivation^ 
and rather than give money on this account, 
they often suddenly vacate their huts, and 
move into the interior, where they re-commence 
their labours of clearing away the jungle. 
Few of the Zemindars, however, exact rent 
from them, and in lieu of it the Koonch and 
Rajbunsi act as Burkendazes and fighting 
men, when their services in this way are re- 
quired by their respective chiefs or proprie- 
tors of the soil. The Koonch live in small 
villages, consisting generally of a few solitary 
huts ; and frequently situated at a consider- 
Th«r nan. abl^ distance from each other. Thev eat the 

Dtr of liviug. /i 1 i» 1 , , 

flesh ol sheep, goats, deer, hogs and buffaloes^ 
and drink spirits ; and from this mode of 
living they possess great physical strength 
and courage, and armed with spears do not 
hesitate, it is said, to attack on foot, wild ele- 
phants and tigers. They have the character 
Aw Mid fo of being strictly honest and faithful in all their 

he honest and , •' 

to have a more dealings, aud have the virtue, which few of 

than usual re- , 

gard for truth, their neighbours possess, of shewing a great 
regard for truth. As they have neither priests 
nor barbers among them, they are rejected 
by the Hindoos as belonging to their sect, 
but the Rajbunsis, who abstain from animal 
food and follow the customs and usages of 
Hindoos in general, are not considered as 
being excluded from it. The latter differ 
little in appearance from the Koonch, and 



1 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



241 



indeed are only a higher grade of the same 
class being the descendants of their princes. 
They have a language of their own, of which 
the following are a few words. 



Madai 


God. 


Goom 


Nose. Their Un- 


Meea 


Man. 


Natoon 


Ears. «""«" 


Ha 


Earth. 


Dabba 


Hookah. 


Cheerung 


Water. 


Gooaee 


Betel-nut. 


Huno-an 


Fire. 


Zamcha 


Pepper. 


Muchuck 


Deer. 


Meerung 


Rice, 


Choop 


Snake. 


Thyree 


Plantain. 


Sa 


Fish, 


Nyeka 


Turmeric. 


Roong 


Boat. 


Choona 


Cloth. 


Sheel 


Iron. 


Nukh 


House. 


Machye 


Tiger. 


Fong 


A tree. 


Wak 


Hog. 


Baum 


Wind. ■ 


Jok 


Hand. 


f 





The total number of Koonch and Rajbunsi Their num. 
residing in the northern division and tract of "*' 
jungle extending to Moodapore in Mymen- 
sing, is estimated at 8,000. 



In addition to the above classes there are Emigrants 
established here a few colonies of emigrants parts of India 
from other parts of India. The street coolies, oacaidistrict! 
about 300 in number, are natives of Purneah 
and Bhaugulpore, and have been settled here 
for upwards of a century and a half. A num- 
ber of Munipooreans reside at Tezgong, where 
they cultivate sugar cane and vegetables and 
weave the Khess cloth of Munipore : and 
between three and four hundred Bunooah 

2g 



242 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

coolies from ^ Beerbhoom are employed about 
the Indigo factories of the district. A great 
many of the Burkendazes and Peons at the 
thannahs and in the service of the Zemindars 
are natives of the western provinces. 

Worshippers About scvcn-eighths of Brahmins, Bhaides 
Khrisno! " and Khaycts, and all the Kamars and Khan- 
sareeSy among the Sudras, are worshippers of 
Kali ; and the remaining eighth, all the Tan* 
tees, one-half of the shell cutters, and three- 
fourths of the Soundikus, are Busnubs or 
worshippers of Khrisno. There are three 
Mens if. the Gossacus in the city, who have numerous dis- 

city with iiu. *' 

meroui disci- ciplcs iu the surrouudiug country, as far as 
Assam and Chittagong, and from whom they 
levy annual contributions. There are about 
300 Byragees, who reside in the Akharas or 
convents, which are under the controul of 
these Gossaens. A Byragee pays about one 
rupee and a half, when he is initiated into 
the mysteries of the sect, and is liable to fines 
imposed by the Gossaen, to whom also de- 
volves whatever property he may possess 
at the time of his death. The principal 
The chief Busuub festival here, is held in the month 

tivai. of August, on the day after Khrisno's birth 

day. On this occasion, two processions are 
made by the weavers in honor of two idols, 
called Luckanarain and Morlee Mohun. 
The former is a Salgram or stone from the 
Gunduck river ; it was set up as an object 
of worship about 150 years ago, by a wealthy 
weaver, and the latter is an image of Khrisno 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 243 

which was established at a considerably later ceremonies 
date, by a person of the same profession. In ments practis- 
these processions, the employments of Khris- tivai. 
no and the members of his family, are re- 
presented by boys on portable stag&s deco- 
rated with coloured paper, tinsel and artificial 
flowers. These stages are paraded through 
the streets accompanied by music, trains of 
elephants and horses, and at night by a dis- 
play of fireworks to the great delight of the 
natires, who on this occasion flock into the 
city in great numbers from all parts of the 
surrounding country. In former times, when 
the weavers were iq better circumstances than 
they are at present, these processions were 
conducted at a considerable expense, and usu- 
ally <^onsisted of upwards of 100 stages. 
Another great Hindoo festival is held on the Another 
banks of the Berhampooter creek (the old March on rhe 
channel of the river) in the pergunnah of BMhanTpool'* 
Sunergong. An immense multitude of per- ^*''*^'®**^- 
sons assemble here to bathe in the river. 
The festival is held in March and continues 
8 or 10 days. The Hindoo places of worship Number of 
in the city, are 52 Akharas, 65 Kali Barrees, o" worship''' 
and 12 Sunghuts. The Brahmins attached 
to the temple of Daccaserry Doorga, were 18 
in number, and those who perform Jujmanee 
ceremonies amounted to 345 in the year 1838. 

Mahommedans, — It is estimated, that the Mahcmme- 
population of the district consists of Hindoos 
and Mahommedans in nearly equal propor- 
tions^ but in the city the latter constitute the 



244 



.TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



Mahomroe. principal portioQ of the inhabitants, their 

dariR more iiu- , , , - - . 

merous in the number according to the census taken in 
doos, *" *"" 1838, exceeding that of the Hindoos to the 
extent of 4,309 in a population of 60,617 ex- 
clusive of that of the villages in the suburbs. 
The Mussulmauns appear to have settled in 
great numbers in the eastern districts, from 
the time they conquered the country, and to 
have constituted at an early period the prin- 
cipal body of the inhabitants, about the mouth 
of the Megna. Caesar Frederick in 1565 
mentions that ^' the inhabitants of Sundeep 
are Moors," and in Purchas's Collection of 
Travels, it is stated that about the end of the 
16th century ^'the inhabitants near the 
shore," were for the most part Mahomme* 
dans. They are almost all Sheikhs; the 
Seyeds, Moghuls and Patans forming but an 
inconsiderable portion of the population. The 
latter, however, were numerous in this dis- 
trict in former times, and a few of their des- 
cendants are still to be met with, at the vil- 
lage of Patan-toUee near Dumroy, where they 
hold lands by virtue of Sunnuds granted by 
former rulers. Several of the communities 
into which the lower classes of M ahomme- 
dans are divided, according to their occupa- 
tions and employments, > have assumed the 
character of castes, and in regard to marry- 
ing and eating with each other, they are 
quite as exclusive as the Hindoos. They 
comprize, 1st. — Khasye, or butchers, who are 
sub-divided into ranks according to the ani- 
mals they slaughter. 2d. — Kooluj or maixufac- 



Consisting 
tnoRtly of 
Sheikhs. 



Divided 
into castes. 



Kfaasye. 



Koolu. 



TOPOGRAPH^ OF DACCA, 



245 



turers of til and mustard oil. 3d. — Jolan, or 
weavers of coarse country cloths. 4th. — Mal^ 
lees, consisting of gardeners and makers of 
artificial flowers and of decorations used at 
marriage processions, and during the M ohur- 
rum and Beira festivals. 5th. — Challenhasy or 
persons who catch mullet. 6th. — Bildarsy or 
GorkundSy or road makers, grave diggers, 
carriers of the dead. 7th. — Dooreahsy or dog 
keepers, sweepers, match-makers, appliers of 
leeches, &c. 8th . — Meerishkariahy or fowlers. 
9th. — Daeesy or mid wives. The persons who 
follow this profession in the town are divided 
into classes under the orders of«Mahaladar- 
nies, who settle their disputes, and are enti- 
tled to a portion of the fees they earn. This 
municipal regulation was made in the time 
of Jehangire and appears to have originally 
been a branch of police jurisdiction. The 
Mahaladarnies were required to report cases 
of premature labour and infanticide to the 
authorities, and were employed to enter and 
search female apartments, and to assist in 
taking the evidence of females who are pro- 
hibited by their rank from appearing in open 
court. Their services in this way are still 
held in requisition by the Magistrate of the 
city. 10th. — Hajams or barbers. 11th. — 
Dhoobees or washermen. 12th. — Myeferosh 
or sellers of fish. During the Moghul Go- 
vernment the sale of fish in the town was a 
monopoly in the hands of this class, and the 
business is still principally carried on by 
them. 13th. — Bearers or carriers of dhoolees. 



Jolan^ 
Mallecs. 



Challeiihas. 



Bildars. 



Dooreahs, 



Meerishka^ 
riah. 

Daees. 



Hajams. 

Dhoobees. 

Myeferosh. 



Bearers. 



24(5 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

Sampooriab. 14th. — Sampooriah, or snake catchers. 15thr 
azjg ur. — Bazighur, or rope dancers and jugglers. 

Two Firs Thcrc are two Pirs of great sanctity in the 

and a consi- ... , 

derabie num- vicinitv of thc town, and also a considerable 

ber of Fakirs t n n t * o 

\n the town, num Dcr 01 fakirs, a few of whom occasionally 
Their reiu evincc their religious zeal by burying them- 

giouBzeal. ^ ^ ^ cr 

selves under ground during the festivals of 
Mohurrum and Uamazan. A pit is dug for 
this purpose, in the shape of a grave, into 
which the devotee descends, carrying with 
him a quantity of food and drink barely suf- 
ficient to support life during the penance* 
This excaiwition is then roofed over with 
bamboos, mats and earth, with the excep* 
tion of a small crevice to admit air, and in 
this situation the fakir remains until the expi- 
ration of the festival. The ceremonies of the 
The Mo. Mohurrum are conducted at the Hossainee 

hurrum fesii- _., t-i* ^ •■■•it 

vai. iJelaun, which is an extensive building capa- 

ble of containing a large concourse of people. 
During the " ashoora" or ten days' fast, its 
interior is decorated with artificial flowers, 
transparencies, ostrich eggs, the walls above 
Cf remoDies tlic placc whcrc the effigies of Hussein and 

observed. 

Hossein are laid, are lined with black cloth, 
a fountain plays in the centre of the apart- 
ment and the whole is lit up at night with 
a profusion of lamps and coloured candles 
while the " Murseea Kownee," or funeral 
dirges and eulogiums are recited by a band 
of singers trained to the task, and who con- 
tinues the " Shub-baydaree" or nocturnal vi- 
gils throughout the fast. On the 7th day the 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 247 

Punjab, or representation of an open hand 
mounted upon a pole adorned with flowers 
and tinsel is paraded through the streets, ac- 
companied by music, and on the 10th or last 
day of the fast the Tabeeat, or effigies of the 
two martyrs, are conveyed with great pomp 
and ceremony to a place in the vicinity of 
the town where they are buried. During this 
festival, boys dressed in red and green peram- 
bulate the town, carrying standards and lea- 
thern bags filled with water or sherbets which 
they oflfer to passengers. The festival of the The Bei- 
Beirah in honor of Khanjah Kizier (supposed 
to be the prophet Elias) was conducted with 
great splendour during the time, the No- 
warrah was maintained here, but in this res- 
pect it has greatly declined of late years, 
and is now celebrated with less pomp and 
shew, than at Moorshedabad, and other towns 
in the country. A tutelary deity of the rive^ 
under the name of " Bhuddur," is very gene- Bhuddur 
rally and daily worshipped here, both by ^^"^ *''^^"* 
Hindoos and M ussulmauns, but chiefly by 
the lower classes among the latter. His fa- 
vor is propitiated by the sacrifice of a fowl at 
the river side, and by the ofiering of fruits and 
flowers, which are put into earthen vessels or 
scooped out pumkins, and launched forth 
upon the water. The worship of Bhuddur 
extends down the Megna to Chittagong, and 
I believe as far as Arracan. 

Within the last ten years a Mabommedan a nw sert 

... of Miih«mine- 

sect has sprung up, m this part of the coun- dw». 



248 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA, 

try and has spread with extraordinary rapi* 

dity in this district, Fureedpore, Backer- 

The founder gunge and Mymensing. The founder of it 

called ShurkU , •/ C7 

tuiiah. IS a man of the name of ShurkituUah, a 

native of Fureedpore. This person, at the 
early age of 18, made a pilgrimage to Mecca : 
he visited it a second time, and took up his 
abode among the Wahabees, and after an 
absence of twenty years returned to his na- 
tive country about the year 1828. Since his 
return he has been engaged in promulgating 
his doctrines, and he has succeeded in mak« 
ing converts to the number, it is estimated, of 
oncrsixth of the M ussulmaun population, of 
the above places : in the city they are sup* 
posed to comprize about one -third of the 
Called Fe- Mussulmauu inhabitants. The Ferazees as 

from Mooia- this scct is Called, differ little from the Moo^ 

lavees of the western districts, of whom there 
%.ve a considerable number (the disciples of 
Moolavy AbduUulah,*) also settled here. They 
profess to adhere to the strict letter of the 
Koran, and reject all ceremonies that are not 
sanctioned by it. The Mohufirum festival, as 
it was observed by Mahummud and by the 
prophets before him as they assert, is strictly 
kept, more particularly the 10th day of this 
moon, which they regard as peculiarly sacred, 
from its being the date of Adam and Eve's 
descent to the earth, and of the creation of the 
Ursh, (ninth or empyrean) and of the Koor* 

see (eighth or crystalline) heavens. They 

* 

• Moolavy Abdoollulah makes Morids wbich Shurkitallah objects t«» 



vees. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 24d 

fast, accordingly, on this and the following Tenftn of 
day, cvpend the liight in prayer, and observe '^® ^erwees. 
the commendable duties enjoined by the pro- 
phet of feeding the poor, and effecting a re- 
conciliation among persons at enmity Mrith 
each other; but the commemoration of the 
martyrdom of Hussein and Hossein, \yhich 
is held at this time, is not only forbidden, but 
even witnessing the ceremonies connected 
with it, is avoided by them. They reject the 
rites of Puttee, Chuttee and Chilla which are 
performed between the first and fortieth day 
after the birth of a child and observe only 
the rite of Uqueekha, which consists in sacri- 
ficing two he-goats for a male, and one for a 
female child. The ceremony of shaving the 
child's head takes place at this time, and the 
weight of the hair in gold or silver, according 
to the circumstances of the parents, is distri^ 
buted among the poor. In the same way- 
they have divested the marriage ceremony of Their Mar. 
its formalities. The various customs observed "w ^®""®" 
on this occasion^ viz. of '^ sitting in state," of 
" carrying and applying turmeric," of" mea- 
suring for wedding garments," and "the 
Shubghust procession," are all prohibited, and 
the only show or pomp that is permitted is 
the adornment of the bride and bridegroom 
on the day of their shaddee or marriage. 
The rite is solemnized by the parties giving 
their consent in the presence of witnesses, 
and on this occasion music and dancing are 
dispensed with, and the only expense incur- 
xed is a feast called " Eiema Khana" to their 

2h 



Dies. 



250 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

TbeirFune- fricnds and the poor* Their funeral obse^ 
quies are conducted with a corresponding 
degree of simplicity, offerings of fruit and 
flowers at the grave and the variotis Futeeah 
ceremonies being prohibited: their graves 
are not raised above the surface of the ground, 
nor marked out by any building of brick 
. or stone. The Ferazees have the character 
of being stricter in their morals than their 
other Mahommedan brethren, but they are in- 
clined to intolerance and persecution, and in 
shewing their contempt of the religious opi- 
nions of their neighbours they frequently 
occasion affrays and disturbances in the town. 
Their leader " Hajee Shuritullah" has mora 
than once been in custody on this account^ 
and is at present under the ban of the police, 
I believe, for exciting his disciples in the 
country to withhold the payment of revenue^ 

Christians. Christians. — Christians have been settled 
in this part of the country for nearly three 
centuries and a half. Vertomannus in speak^ 
ing of the city of Bengalla in 1503, says 
" Here we found many Christian Merchants 
who were born in the city of Sarnan as they 
told us. They resort thither as to a great 
mart with cloth of silk, and wood of Aloes 
and Lazer which yieldeth the sweet gum called 
Laserpetium, commonly called Belzoi being 
a kind of Myrrh." These Christians appear 
to have belonged to the Syrian Church. It was 
not until 1517 that the Portuguese visited 
Bengal. In this year John DeSilvey ra arrived 



TOPOGRAPHT OF DACCA. 251 

with four sail from the Maldives, with the 
view of erecting a factory in Bengallah, where 
he passed the winter and suffered greatly 
from famine. Shortly after this, they were Settle at 
allowed to settle at Chittagong, and a few and a'ter"!Lr<is 
years afterwards they established themselves *^ ^'^"P0'«- 
at Serripore on the Megna. The Church of The church 
Tezgong, in the vicinity of Dacca, is said to founried prior 
have been founded by St. Augustine Mis- 
sionaries prior to 1599, but it is probable from 
the close resemblance of this Church to the 
Nestor i an places of worship in the south of 
India, that it was originally built by the 
Christian Merchants mentioned by Verto- 
mannus, and that it was subsequently only 
repaired or re-built by the 'Roman Catholic 
Missionaries. The Portuguese appear to have Mode of 
lived chiefly by piracy in the estuaries of the Portuguese. 
Megna at the time they settled here. The 
inhabitants of Serripore, who were chiefly 
Portuguese, are mentioned by Fitch in 1586 
as being '' all rebels against the King Zelab- 
din Eckbar : here are so many rivers and 
islands, that they flee from one to another 
whereby his horsemen cannot prevail against 
•them/' They >v^ere subsequently employed 
by the Moghijl Governors of the province. 
In 1621 a number of them accompanied 
Ibrahim Khan as gunners of his fleet, when Employed 
that Nawaub was pursued to Rajmahl by ikTwTbrl^ 
Sha Jehan, and. at a later period a consider- ^^"^ *' 
. able number of them deserted the service of 
the Rajah of Arracan, and were located at 
Peringy Bazar by Shaista Khan* They werq 



252 



TOPOGRAPHY Ofr DACCA. 



employed at this time as commanders of 
war boats, gunners, and artisans in the artil- 
lery and Nowarrah departments, and accord- 
ing to Tavernier a good many of them were 
officers in the Cavalry of the Nawaub. They 
JJawaub' M*** resided in the vicinity of the DuUye Creek,, 

where they had a Church admired by Taver- 
nier for the beauty of its structure, and also 
a St. Augustine monastery, which is mentioned 
by Thevenot. The total number of Chris- 
tians belonging to the • three Portuguese 
Churches in Dacca, Bhowal, and Houssana- 
bad is estimated at 10,150. 



At well as 
in tbe Ca- 



officerg. 



Total Tium 
ber ot Purtu 
guese. 



First sctrle- 
meiit of the 
English. 



In 1678 an 
exemption 
from ducieg 
graoted them 
by Sultan 
Mahommed 
Aazim. 

In 1686 tbe 
English Fac- 
tory confisca- 
ted. 

1689 their 
whole proper- 
ty confiffcatrd 
by Anrentebe 
and tbe Com- 
|»any'8 ser- 
vantg placed 
iu irons. 



The English appear to have settled here 
about the year 1660* Tavernier alludes to 
the English Factory, and mentions the name 
of its chief in 1666, about which time Indian 
muslins were first introduced into England. 
The number of Company's servants attached 
to this establishment prior to 1 760 does not 
appear ever to have exceeded five persons. 
In 1678 the Company's agents presented 
Sultan Mohammed Aazim with a nuzzer of 
21,000 rupees, for which they received his 
Nishaun or order for a free trade without the 
payment of duties. In 1686 the Factory was 
confiscated by Shaista Khan, and in 1688 
this Nawaub or his deputy Behadur Khan, 
in compliance with orders from Aurenzebe, 
sequestrated the whole of the English pro- 
perty in Bengal, and placed the Company's 
servants here in irons. The following is a 
comparative statement of the professions and 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 2S3 

occupations of the English residents here in 
the years 1778 and 1838. 

1778. 
5 Members of the Provincial Council. Piofessioni 

and occiipii- 

1 Collector of Customs. •'S'"* of tb« 

KnglUh resi- 

1 Superintendant of Dewany Adawlut. denti* in the 

^ ^ years 1778 

1 Secretary. and i838, 

1 Assistant ditto. 

1 Persian Translator. 

1 Chief of the CommercialEstablishment, 

1 Assistant to Commercial Chief. 

1 Salt Agent. 

1 Surgeon. 

1 Assistant ditto. 

J Commandant of Militia. 

1 Subaltern. 

4 Merchants. 
1 Attorney. 

5 Traders and Writers to Company's 
Servants. 

1 Pilot. 

1 Deputy ditto. 

1 Tailor. 

2 Servants. 

5 Persons without employment. 

. ■» 

37 

1838. 

r 1 Commissioner of Revenue. 
^ j 1 Civil and Session Judge. 
^1 1 Magistrate and Collector. 



L 1 Joint Magistrate. 



254 



TOPOGBAPHY OF DACCA. 






r 






^ 



I Assistant to the Magistrate, 

1 Sudder Aumeen. 

1 Deputy Collector. 

1 Civil Servant (out of employ.) 

1 Chaplain. 

1 Surgeon. 

J Assistant Surgeon. 
1 3 Commissioned Officers of a Regiment 
of Native Infantry. 

1 Commissariat Officer. 

1 Executive Officer. 

1 Artillery ditto. 

3 Non-Commissioned Officers. 

1 Baptist Missionary. 
16 Indigo Planters and Merchants. 

47 



Armenians 
and Greeks. 



Mfrcantile 
pursuits. 



Crreeks. 



There are about 40 families of Armenians 
and 12 of Greeks in the city. The former 
people appear to have settled here about the 
time the Company acquired the Dewanny. 
Many of them carried on an extensive trade 
in cloth, salt and betel nut, and held Zemin- 
daries, some of which are still possessed by 
their descendants. Their Church was erected 
in 1781. The Greeks established themselves 
in the city at a later period. Alexis Argyree, 
the founder of the Greek Community in 
Calcutta, died here in 1777, and left consider- 
able property, which was divided among his 
sons, who took up their abode in Dacca and 
Backergunge. Their Church was built iu 
1821, the priest attached to it belongs to the 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 255 

monastery of Mount Sinai. Like the Arme- Their pnr. 
mans, the Greeks were chieily engaged m to those of tht 
inland trade, and there are a few who still deal 
extensively in salt at Naraingunge. 

The total number of Christians in the city Toui num^ 
comprizing English, Anglo-Indians, Portu- tians in the ' 
guese, Armenians, Greeks, and persons of 
French and Dutch extraction, amounted tq 
304 in the year 1838. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Character, Manners^ Dress, Customs and 
Amusements — Education — Litigation, Crime 
and its Physical Causes. 

The natives of the eastern districts of Ben- characfer 
gal, like their countrymen in general, are of ^1 Bengr//^" 
the middle stature and of a slender and weak 
form of body. They have never been dis- 
tinguished for courage, but on the contrary 
have generally been remarked for pusillani? 
mity and cowardice. Captain Hamilton in 
writing of Dacca upwards of a hundred and 
fifty years ago, observed " the country is full 
of inhabitants, but it does not breed any of 
courage, for five or six men will chace away 
a thousand.'* They are prone to indolence , , , 

•^ .'^ . Indolent 

and inactivity, are wanting in energy, and and inactive 
little capable of enduring fatigue or much 
laborious exertion^ but they possess great 



250 



TOPOGRAPHY OF 0ACCA. 



Excel in 
arts and ocni- 
paiionn of a 
■edeiitarycba- 
racter. 



Quiet and 
inofftnsive. 



Only one 
instance of 
disconfent 
since the 
Coropai!y*8 
rule. 



patience and perseyefance» and from the seii^ 
sibility of organization with which they are 
naturally endowed, they are in general better 
adapted to excel in arts in which long con-r 
tinned application and manual dexterity are 
displayed, than in occupations requiring the 
exercise of much physical strength or cou- 
rage. Accordingly they are good spinners, 
weavers, writers, embroiderers, workers in 
gold and silver and shells, but make indiffer- 
ent porters or carriers, watchmen, guards or 
soldiers. As a political community, they are 
quiet, peaceable and inoffensive, and have 
always been distinguished for their attach- 
ment and obedience to their rulers. The 
only instance of popular discontent that has 
been publicly manifested since the Company's 
accession to the Government, occurred in 
1810 when the house tax was imposed, on 
which occasion the inhabitants of the city 
rose in a body to represent their grievances 
to the Collector. The document in which 
their complaints were set forth was signed by 
nearly 9000 of the more respectable house- 
holders of the place, who petitioned not only 
for the repeal of the obnoxious tax, but also for 
the abolition of the stamp duty, and the ap- 
pointment of properly qualified persons to 
the inferior Government offices. On the re^ 
fusal of the Collector to receive this petition 
from the mob that besieged the Cutcherry, 
a disposition to riot was shewn, but the 
appearance of a company of Sepoys in the 
fitreets was all that was required to preserve 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 257 

order and the crowd quietly dispersed to ap- 
point delegates to present the petition the 
following day. The worst features in their 
character are dishonesty, and a propensity Dishonest 

"^ 1 A ^ 3j,^ litigious, 

to litigiousness and petty quarrels, in the «nd evince a 
prosecution of which they indulge a great fortmiL 
deal of deceit and chicane, and evince an utter 
disregard for truth. This disposition has 
been remarked by all the official persons 
who have been connected with the district, 
and in this respect they have acquired the 
repute of being the most troublesome set of 
people in the country. Religious quarrels Religious 
between Hindoos and M ahommedans are of f^^^^*" ^^^ 

between H in- 
rare occurrence. These two classes live in JoosandMa. 

bommeoaiiSi 

perfect peace and concord, and a majority of 
the individuals belonging to them have even 
overcome their prejudices so far as to smoke 
from the same hookah. The Brahmins in 
this part oi the country have, in a great mea- enfrage in oe- 
sure, broken through the trammels of caste p""»i"8- 
that confined them to the offices of the priest- 
hood ; and they now frequently engage in the 
secular occupations of dewans, writers, va- 
keels, &c. As a body, they are not treated with 
very great respect by the inferior castes in 
the city, and the only persons of their order, 
indeed to whom much deference is shewn, 
are the officiating priests at the temples, and 
the Gossaens wlio possess great influence in 
temporal as well as religious matters, over 
their disciples the weavers, shell cutters, and 
all the other worshippers of Khrishno. 

2i 



258 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Societies or The Hindoos in their social intercourse are 
by the Hin- divided into societies or clubs called ** Dulls." 
••^DuUb." There is often more than one of these societies 
in the same caste, and even the several mem- 
bers of a family not unfrequently belong to 

Ruled by a different dulls. Each society is governed by 
a president who is styled Dulpoti among the 
Brahmins, Pooromanich among the weavers, 
goldsmiths, barbers, &c. and Mookeah among 
the Teypallees, whose assemblies from the 
quarrelsome disposition of the members, 
are further distinguished by the name of 
DuUa DuUee. The members of the different 
dulls visit and give entertainments among 
themselves, and in their collective capaci- 

Takecog. ty take cognizance of the infringements of 

nizance of the /» i 

infringements the rulcs and usages of caste, and exercise 

a censorship on the conduct of their associ- 
ates. Among many of the Mussulmaun 
„. ., classes as the Ruffo^rs or darners, and 

Simimr so- 

cietie«, &c. Myeferosh or sellers of fish, &c. there are 

amung the 

Mussuimauns. socictics of a somcwhat similar description. 

The office of president among the former 
is hereditary, and its perquisites are the 
most distinguished place at their feasts, and 
a double allowance of dishes. They settle 
disputes and impose fines on delinquents 
guilty of a breach of their regulations, as 
the refusal of a member to attend a feast, 
funeral or religious festival. The president 
of the Myeferosh regulates the duties, and 
settles the disputes of the whole class ; he 
levies a contribution daily from each member 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 259 

of the society, and in return gives them a 
feast at the end of the year. Among the 
Hindoos the members of a family generally 
live together until the death of the father, 
when the youngest son takes charge of his 
mother. Marriages on the female side are Their mar. 
contracted at a very early period in life, and "*^*'' 
with the exception of the Coolin Brahmins, 
the Beydicks and Jhappanye weavers, the 
father of the bride among all the other castes 
receives money from the bridegroom on this 
occasion. The sum varies from 20 to 500 
rupees. Among the Pateeals, it is regulated 
by the skill displayed by the bride in the 
manufacture of mats, and is settled on the 
bridegroom seeing her work prior to be- 
trothal : the highest sum paid by this class is 
100 rupees. The expense attending the cele- Expenses 
bration of the marriage ceremony varies lolht^^u!^^ 
greatly, but among the more wealthy classes, 
of Hindoos and Mussulmauns in the city it may 
be estimated at the following rates, viz. from 
1000 to 2000 rupees for the higher classes : from 
400 to 800 for the middle classes : and from 
100 to 200 rupees for the third class. Persons 
who exceed the sum warranted by their rank 
or sphere of life, fail to command respect 
among the more respectable natives, and their 
conduct on this occasion is subject to the 
censure of the members of the dulls to which 
they belong. The greater portion of the in what 

. .1 • xi- 1 manner ez- 

money is thrown away on processions through pended. 
the streets at night, composed of the friends 
of the bride or bridegroom, attended by 



260 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

musicians, persons carrying artificial flowers, 
colored lights and fireworks, with a train of 
ragged bearers of flags, and batons and 
beaters of kettle drums, mounted upon the 
miserable half starved ponies or tatoos of the 
country. The lowest rate at which the cere- 
mony can be celebrated among the poorest 
classes of Hindoos or Mussulmauns, is esti- 
mated at 10 rupees, viz. 

Hindoo. 

Rs. As. 
The lowest S^^*^^i«' \ ^ ^ 

rate at which Cloths for bride and bridegroom, .... 2 

the ceremony ^ 

can be ceie- Shell bracelets, 1 

brated. 

Comb and sindoor, 4 

Ornaments, 1 

Musicians, 4 

Bridal crown, 1 

Washerman, 4 

Barber, 4 

Feast, 2 

Miscellaneous, -• 1 

Rupees 10 

Mussulmaun. 

Cazi, 8 

Cloths for bride and bridegroom, .... 3 

Comb, &c., 4 

Chooree or lac bracelets, 8 

Bridal crown, • • - • 8 

Barber, 4 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 261 

Feast, 2 

Music and miscellaneous expenses,. . 3 

• Rupees 10 

Marriages among the middle and lower 
classes, it is said, are more expensively con- 
ducted here than in Calcutta, but funeral ob- 
sequies are less so. It is seldom that any 
large sum is lavished on the latter occasion 
by the wealthier classes, and among the poorer 
inhabitants the expenditure is comparatively 
moderate. The following is the lowest rate 
of expense incurred on this account by a 
Hindoo or Mussulmaun belonging to the 
lower classes, viz. 

Hindoo. 

i?«. As, 

Funeral Clothes, 8 The lowest 

m Txi /• • i» 1 expense of a 

To a Dhome for preparing funeral "? r. o fu»erai. 

pile, S 

Firewood, 12 

Sandal, ghee and bamboos, 4 

Shraddu. 

Brahmin, 1 

Cloths, 1 

Rice and dhal, 2 

Brahmins feast, 1 

Brass articles, 1 

Barber, 4 

Washerman, 4 

Miscellaneous, , 8 

Rupees 7 



262 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

3Iussulniatin. 

Grave digger, 12 

Coffin, cloth, mats, bamboo, &c. .., • 1 

MoUah, 4 

Fourth Fateeah. 

Mollah, 1 

Food, 4 

Copper dish, &c., 1 

Cowries distributed to the poor, .... 4 

Expenseof the 1 st, 2d and 3d Fateeahs, 2 8 



Rupees 7 

siiraddu If the family are too poor to celebrate 

when'^tK Shraddu, they distribute a few pounds of rice 
roily are poor. ^^^ scsamc and cowrcos among the Ugradanu 

Brahmins : in the country, Dhomes are sel- 
dom employed, and both there and in the city 
persons who cannot afford the expense of a 
funeral pile, throw the corpse into the river. 
Among several of the Mussulmaun classes, 
as the Ruffogurs, and the members of the 
society to which the deceased belonged dig 
the grave and carry the corpse to it, a duty 
Fateeahs not which they perform in their turn. Fateeahs 
^oor "eo 'i^"^ ^^^ seldom celebrated by very poor people, 

and never for a person who has died without 
a family or friends. The Ferazees dispense 
with the usual marriage and funeral ceremo- 
nies, and the expense incurred by them there- 
fore on these occasions is small, and consists 
chiefly of money distributed in charity. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 263 

There are no Hindoo midwives here. All No mi^. 
Tvho lollow this profession are Mussulmauns the Hiudout 
and reside in the city, where they are divided 
into classes under the superintendance of 
Mahaladarnis, who practise in certain dis- 
tricts or quarters without interfering with each 
other. There are very few villages in the 
country provided with midwives, and there 
the office of one is generally performed by 
an experienced neighbour, who is rewarded 
for her trouble with a piece of cloth or some 
similar present. Four annas is the lowest 
rate at which the services of one in the town Howremu. 
can be procured; the other expenses for pan, "^''*****- 
betel-nut, and tobacco for attendants, and 
fuel for 40 days, among the Mussulmauns, 
amount to about 12 annas more, making the 
total expense one rupee. In the rearing of 
children Hindoo mothers always suckle their Hindooi 
own offspring, but M ussulmaun women very tbI^7own"tff 
frequently employ nurses for this purpose, ■p""*^- 
The practise of giving opium to infants is MuMuimaun 
very common among the latter : it is com- ^^TmXy emi 
menced when the child is a few days old, and ^*^^ °"""* 
is generally continued until it is four years 
of age. It is administered under the impres- 
sion that it defends the child from cold, but 
more frequently with the view of quieting it 
when troublesome ; and the practice, it may 
be mentioned, is frequently carried by native 
nui*ses into European families. Deaths from ^Opium given 

* by the nurses 

an overdose are of frequent occurrence, I be- to children fre- 
lieve : within the last eight months I have cause of death. 



264 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

seen two instances of infants under the age 

of ten months, who were thus accidentally 

killed by it, and I know of another case in a 

European family where the parents attributed 

Tbewwithy *^® ^^^^ ^^ ^ child to it. The more wealthy 

tare'^thpir""^" classcs of Hiudoos imitate the Calcutta peo- 

breihren of pie in their mode of speaking, writing and liv- 

the mefropo* ^ jr o' o 

lis in rheir ing. The Gaur or pure Bengallee, which is the 
speech, &c. language of this part of the country, (and one 
that is almost unintelligible to the inhabitants 
of the western districts,) has given place to 
the Calcutta dialect among the higher classes, 
who also follow the mode of giving entertain- 
ments, &c. adopted by their Hindoo brethren 
Hindoo in the metropolis. The seclusion of women 
roudTiedud. amoug the Hindoos in this part of the coun- 
try is not much attended to, but among the 
Mussui. Mussulmauns it is strictly enforced, and only 

maun women "^ 

strictly 80. thosc belonging to the lower classes ever 

Lower class i i oi 

ofMussuimaiin appear abroad. Some of the latter, it may 

women labour . ,, ,. i-i^i 

like (he men. be remarked, work quite as hard as the men, 
especially the women of the class of Kootees, 
who husk grain, carry bricks and materials 
for building, and also those belonging to the 
Jalwah and Budiya castes, who are employed 
in rowing boats, fishing, &c. Mussulmaun 
females of the middle and higher classes in 
the city travel in small dhoolees or sedans 
covered with cloth and carried by a couple of 
bearers. The use of palankins is not general, 
Paiankins ^^^ nativc carts and carri/tges drawn by bul- 

rt? Jge. *^"*' locks or horses are quite unknown. Few of the 
natives here ride on horseback . Most of the 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 265 

Zemindars keep elephants, but the general Wafer con. 
mode of travelling in the country is by water. generefuM 

through the 
district. 

I 

The men and women of the lower classes , '^^^ l^^^^ 

cUtaet bei t«*r 

here are better dressed than persons in the «\«res8ed than 

^ tiione of the 

same condition in life in the western districts weatem dis- 
of the province, and few of them are seen 
without two or more separate pieces of cloth. 
Leather shoes are not much worn except in shoea. 
the city : wooden ones are used in the coun- 
try, and are usually worn as a sandal with a 
wooden button, or are fastened round the foot 
and ankle, for which purpose the Mussul- 
mauns use a leather thong, and the Hindoos a 
string of hemp or cotton. Hindoo and Mus- Hintioo 
sulmaun women wear the same kind of dress; maun women 
the only difference is in the colour of the JreV.!^' ""' 
border, the former using a saree with a red, the 
latter wearingonewitha black border. Hindoo 
women here wear shell bracelets frequently 
covering the whole fore-arm. These orna- Their pma- 

^ menu. 

ments and the silver anklets are often of 
considerable value, and descend from one 
daughter to another, through several genera- 
tions. The bracelets and the streak of sind- 
hoor or red paint upon the forehead, are 
tokens of the woman's husband being alive, 
widows and unmarried women, therefore, 
have not the privilege of wearing them. Mus- 
sulmaun women weat bracelets made of lac 
or sealing wax, glass or silver instead of shell. 
The other ornaments worn both by Hin- 
doos and Mussulmauns, are finger rings set 
with square pieces of mirror glass, nose and 

2 K 



236 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

ear-rings, necklaces and barrel -shaped orna- 
ments for the hair, in which amulets or 
charms are kept. Among the middle and 
higher classes they are made of gold, silver, 
and small pearls, and for the poorer people 
of tin, tutenag, pewter and brass. 

tobwco'ilfuch Both men and women are much addicted 
»«<>• to the use of pan and tobacco. The people of 

the town smoke the latter, but in the country 
the women chew it with their pan. The cus- 
toms of the natives in general are so inter- 
mixed >vith their religion that any descrip- 
tion of them would be but a tiresome detail 
Their su- of their numerous absurd superstitions and 
ceremonies. There is one, however, which 
may be mentioned, from the circumstance of 
its prevalence here, and from its being pecu- 
liar it is said, to the eastern parts of Bengal. 
It is the employment of persons by the ryotts 
to protect their crops from hail storms. The 
persons who pretend to have this power, are 
called Shealarees, and there are few villages 
in this district or the adjoining oneofMy- 
mensing, without one of them. They belong 
chiefly to the caste of Joogees, and receive a 
fixed monthly salary, which is paid in money 
and grain, and raised by general contribu- 
tion among the villagers. Once a year a 
poojah is celebrated by the Shealaree in 
the open fields in the presence of the assem- 
bled ryotts. On this occasion a kid, a 
kitten, a fowl and a singio fish, all of a 
dark color, are sacrificed ; the first is killed. 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 267 

but the Others are buried alive ia a large Example of 
earthen vessel, over which another vessel of tion. 
a similar shape and size is inverted, and the 
whole is then covered with earth so as to 
form a small mound. On the occurrence of a 
hail storm the Shealaree sallies out of his hut, 
almost in a state of nudity, and takes up his 
position upon this artificial mound. Here he 
blows a bufialoe's horn which he carries 
slung across his breast, and alternately repeat- 
ing his muntras and waving a trisool, he pre- 
tends to drive the " demon of the storm" to 
his abode, which by universal assent has 
been assigned to the Jynteah bills. Hail 
storms being frequently partial, or limited in 
their operation, falling in fields at a little dis- 
tance from each other while intervening ones 
escape, Shealarees take advantage of this 
circumstance, and pretend that they possess 
the power of sending the hail to neighbour- 
ing villages, and the Shealaree therefore, 
whose fields happen to be uninjured by hail 
for three or four successive years, is regarded 
by the ryotts as an invaluable person, and 
often receives wages of double the amount 
paid to his less fortunate brethren. The 
mode of buying and selling by the parties ^^^ ^^ 
touching each other's hands under a cloth, or fe"y'n«:and 
the " arithmetic of the touch," as it has been 
called, is occasionally practised at this place, 
Naraingunge and Seragegunge. The wea- 
vers and merchants also have a commercial 
language of their own called Tar, by which 
bargains are made in the presence of other 



268 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA* 

persons. Wlien a Hindoo merchant fails in 
business he announces his insolvency to the 
public by burning a lamp of ghee at his door 
at mid-day. The practice is general through- 
out India, I believe, but from the rare 
occurrence of bankruptcies here, it is seldodi 
that an exhibition of this kind is witnessed, 
and there have not been more than four in- 
stances of it, it is said, within the last fifty 
years. 

Amusementi. The principal amusements are kite-flying, 

bird fights, nautches, neelas and cards. In 

Bearing for. former times, boating was a general and 

rite pastime. lavoHte pastimc amoug the more wealthy 

classes in the city, and probably originated 

with the Nawaubs, many of whom took great 

Deicripeion pleasurc in this exercise. Their state barges 

of boat*. ^ ./. , 

were magnificently fitted up, and were dis- 
tinguished by different names according to 
the figures on, their prows as ** Mohrpunkee" 
from that that of a peacock, '* Muggurchera," 
of an alligator, &c. In imitation of them the 
merchants, weavers and ruffogurs kept plea- 
sure boats, fancifully decorated with their 
crews dressed in various costumes, and re 
gattas by moonlight formed at this time one 
of the chief amusements of the people. In 
many parts of the country, especially in My- 
mensing, boat races still constitute an amuse- 
ment among the ryotts, at many of the great 
Kite flying, religious festivals. The flying of kites ap- 
pears to be the most general amusement in 
this part of the country : it is practised in 



TTIP- 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 269 

the city during the cold season, and in the 
country chiefly in the spring months. Young 
men as well as boys engage in it, and display 
a dexterity in this sport which is not surpass- 
ed perhaps in any country in the world. 
With their kites which are small and light, 
being made of fine paper and slender pieces 
of bamboo attached to a very long and fine 
silk or cotton thread, they perform a number 
of evolutions in imitation of the flying of 
birds, but their principal object is to cut each 
other's strings, on which the vanquished party 
loses his kite. On the first day of the chur- 
ruck poojah (llth April) young and old 
people assemble in the vicinity of the princi- 
pal villages in the country to fly kites, and 
frequently upwards of three hundred persons 
may be seen engaged in this sport in one 
place. This is one of the great yearly festi- 
vals, and is the day on which the Hindoos 
throughout the country eat pounded barley 
called " suthu" instead of rice. Another great 
holiday in the country is the Mokur " Sang- 
krant" or last day of the month Poos (13 
January). On this day Hindoo Zemindars 
give an entertainment to the Brahmins and 
the ryotts on their estates : the feast is held 
in the open air, and cakes made of rice, mo- 
lasses, sesame and cocoanut water are distri- 
buted among the party. It goes by the name 
of "Bastun poojah," and in Bick ram pore sastunPoo^ 
wrestling and jumping are practised on this ^* ' 
occasion. The principal athletic game of AthUtic 

■• * gf«»"e called 

the district is called " Aru Unda," and some- Aru Unda. 



270 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 



what resembles that of golf. It is played 
with short bamboo clubs and wooden balls by 
two parties opposed to each other, and is a 
common and favorite amusement among young 
people in the country during the cold season. 
Deer catch- Hindoo Zcmiudars amuse themselves in catch- 
ii.gwith nets, jjjg jg^j. j^y means of nets, and Mussulmauns 

SboodDg. in general are fond of shooting, which they 
practise a good deal about the city in the cold 

Angling, scasou. Angling is pretty general on the 
Boorigonga about the commencement of the 
rains, but it is not well understood by the na- 
tives here, and the clumsy and unskilful 
manner in which it is practised by them seems 
almost to justify Dr. Johnson's well known 
definition of this sport. The Hindoos are 

Figfttini^ be- foud of fights bctwecn rams ; and bulbuls 
^AiV\m*Bn or nightingales ; dhials, and mooneas, which 
they practise chiefly during the Doorga poojah 
holidays ; by the latter or combats between 
mooneas) they frequently lose and win a good 
deal of money. Their other amusements 
within doors consist of games of dice, cowrees, 
cards, breaking of eggs and cocoanuts, and 
among the weavers and other Busnubs, 
nautches, and neelas or theatrical representa- 
tions of the exploits of Khrishno. The Bhela 
is the musical instrument common among the 
Hindoos, but it is likely to be supplanted by 
the violin, which has lately become a favorite 
instrument in this part of the country. There 
are several workshops in the town for the 
manufacture of violins, and from the great 
number annually made, there appears to be 



birdi. 



In door 
amuiemcntf 



Mufiical 
itntrumentp. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



271 



a great demand for these instruments in the 
surrounding country. The Gossaens and By- 
ragees are said to be the principal performers. 
The seetar is the favorite musical instrument 
among the Mussulmauns. Their passive 
amusements are nautches, fireworks, cock 
fighting, dice and cards. At the latter, the 
capture of the queen or begum, as she is 
styled, appears to be the great object of the 
most of their games. 



Education. — Reading and writing the Ben- Educttion. 
gallee language and arithmetic, or the mode 
of keeping agricultural and commercial ac- 
counts, are the branches of learning taught in 
the indigenous elementary schools. There 
were 1 1 Hindoo schools with 302 scholars of Number uf 

1.1 ..., . ,, - Hindoo 

this description m the city at the time the tchuou. 
census of the population was taken in 1838. 
The fees paid by each scholar average two 
annas per month, but the greater number of 
schools are supported by the wealthier na- 
tives, the poor inhabitants in the neighbour- 
hood being allowed to send their children to 
them free of expense. The pupils attend from 
early in the morning to sunset MMth an inter- 
val of two hours at noon for meals : they are 
allowed six holidays in the month, viz. four at 
new and two at full moon. The number of Ma- 
hommedan schools in the city in 1838 amount- 
ed to 9 with 1 15 scholars. They are all, strictly 
speaking, private schools, the teachers being 
paid by a few wealthy persons, and the chil- 
dren in the neighbourhood being taught free 



Mahomire- 
dan schools. 



272 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA, 

of expense. For the last twenty years a* 
.ch^o "S nnmber of elementary schools have been ably 
lishtd. conducted by the Reverend Mr. Leonard of 

the Serampore Missionary Society, to whose 
unwearied industry the inhabitants of the 
city are chiefly indebted for the education of 
their families during that period. There were 
at one time no fewer than 29 of these schools 
affording instruction in the Bengallee, Persian 
and English languages to 1400 scholars, but 
owing to the want of funds the number has 
been gradually decreasing, and is now reduced 
to seven schools with 529 male scholars, and 
four schools for the instruction of females, of 
whom there were 99 in the year 1837. There 
is also an English Christian school, a branch 
of the Calcutta Benevolent Institution, under 
the superintendence of the same teacher, 
where reading, writing, arithmetic and trans- 
lating into Hindoostanee are taught: the 
number of scholars belonging to it in 1838 
Bifkram- amounted to 78. Bickrampore is the princi- 

pore the west ... 

of SHii».crit pal seat of Sanscrit learning m this part of the 

learning. ^ tlt i i 

country, and ranks next to Nuddea in cele-* 
8ci!!luu!'*'''^ brity. The total number of Sanscrit schools 

at this place, Sunergong, and throughout the 
district generally in the year 1 838, amounted 
to 125, affording instruction to 828 scholars. 
At 68 of these schools, with 467 students, the 
The branchei «« KaluD Beakuruu," or Sanscrit grammar, is 

of education * 

t«"ght. taught : the books are 20 in number contain- 

ing 3060 leaves, and the term of study required, 
is estimated at ten years. At 33 schools with 
227 scholars Nyaa or logic is the branch of 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



273 



knowledge that is studied : the books that 
are read are seven in number, and the time 
required for a person to become a proficient 
in the art of reasoning is estimated at twelve 
years. At the remaining 24 schools, with 134 
pupils, the Vedahs are learned : the books 
containing 1243 leaves are 30 in number, and 
the time required for their perusal and study 
is computed to be eight years. The other 
Shastres that are studied at Bickrampore are 
the Joutree or Astronomical and the Anbede 
or Medical books. The study of astronomy Astronomy. 
is confined to the pundits among the Beydick 
Brahmins, who calculate eclipses and write an 
almanack every year, which is copied and 
sold by the Assagee Brahmins in the city. A 
rival almanack is published at Bocola in 
Backergunge, but neither of them has so wide 
a circulation as that of Nuddea, which is the 
one that regulates the dates of the principal 
festivals. Medicine is more generally studied Medicine. 
than astronomy, and Bickrampore claims the 
distinction of being the place where most of 
the popular medical works of the country 
were written. The teachers in Bickrampore 
lodge, feed and clothe their pupils free of ex- 
pense, and are supported themselves by dona- 
tions granted by pious and charitable persons. 
There is no public seminary here for the high- ^^ MaHom 
er branches of Mahomedan education. The "™*^"" *^""*«« 

at present. 

last professor that taught at Dacca was a per- 
son of the name of the Moolavy Assud UUah. 
He had a salary of 60 rupees a month from 
the Moghul Govecnment, and at his school, 
which was held in a Mushjhid at the Lall 

2l 



274 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Bagh, the youth of the city were taught the 
Arabic language, logic, metaphysics and law. 
He died about the year 1750, since which 
date there has been no public teacher of any 
of these branches of learning here. The 
natives of this part of the country have evinced 
great eagerness to acquire a knowledge of 
the English language, and accordingly the 

•c^ofJ^estab- ^^^^^^ which lias lately been established in 
lished by Go- the city by Government is well attended, and 

altogether is in a most flourishing and pro* 
mising condition. The institution is admira- 
bly conducted, and under the able tuition of 
the present masters the pupils have made 
great proficiency, not only in reading, writing 
and arithmetic but in the higher branches 
of education as geography, history and geo- 
metry. 

Litigation Litigation^ Crime and its Physical Causes. 
— The natives of Dacca, it has already been 
remarked, are of a most quarrelsome dispo- 

« , sition and are notorious for their proneness to 

FroDenegi of ' 

the people to litigation. The perpetual occurrence of quar- 
rels among the lower classes in the city was 
assigned as a reason for the establishment of 
no less than six Courts of Justice in 1769, and 
of this characteristic propensity to strife, the 
records of the different Courts, contain ample 
proofs, from that time up to the present day. 
The following statement of suits instituted in 
the Court of one of the Moonsiffs in the 
city, between the years 1833 and 1838, will 
serve to shew the kind of disputes that are 
usually brought before the Civil Courts. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



275 



SubjectM o/Diapuie. 



Borrowing of money, ,., 

Ditto ditto on bonds 

Recovery of money in df^posit, ..... 

Arrears of interest 

iDtttttlmentH of money due, 

Accepted hilU or hoondees, 

Bill* or huondees due, 

Money due uii mortgaf^ed property. 

Arrears of rent due by ryotts, 

Wajti-s due, 

Money paid in advance, 

10. Claims for food and clothing, 

61 1 Ditto for ornaments, 

22j Price of houses and lands and 

•ion of Talooks 

40 Posses<^ion of houses, huts and land. 



posses- 



] 



2 

SI 
5 
9 
5 
8 

Id 
3 

10 
9 
3 

It 
3 
3 



4 

28 

2 

3 

5 

5 

17 

2 

11 

69 

7 

10 

6 

25 

5 

3 

3 

5 

4 

4as 

6 
29 

1815 



«• 



•t 



If 



>i 



t9 



It 



»» 



>» 
M 

It 
•t 



»• 



I* 



noney paid by the bride-*) 

e father of the bride in f 

of the non-fulfilment off 

contract, j 



Notice to quit houses, 

House renr, 

Rent of land. 

Sale of brickn, , 

shoes, , 

sheils 

cattle, 

thread and silk, 

saws for cutting shells, 

wood, 

mangoe trees, 

mtlk, 

grass, 

Recovery of money paid by the bride- 
groom to the ' 
consequence 
the marriage 
Recovery of fees paid to Vakeels, 

Agreements, 

Illegal imposition of fines, 

Illegal shIcs 

Recovery of rale money 

Ditto of property iu pledge 

Hire of boats 

Ditto of saws for cutting shells, 

Dealings in grain, 

Sale of cloths 

Ditto of shawls, 

hides, 

soap, , 

Europe goods, 

boats, 

watches, 

sugar ^. 

meat, ...,. 

perfumed oil 

Balances of accounts due, 

Recovery ^ sbar^ of kanbbin given by 

the bridegroom to bride, 

Miscellaneous, 



I* 



ti 



» 



>• 



»t 



M 



tt 



II 



It 



It 



ft 



>i 



It 



I 



1 



12 
299 
15 
11 
64 

7 
11 

4 
22 
43 

5 

4 
32 

14 

28 
1 

15 
1 
3 
3 
3 
7 
2 
6 
3 
I 
4 
2 



Total, 



2 
20 
2 

I 
3 
7 
1 
3 
42 
2 
6 
1 

12 
4 
3 
2 
3 
1 
155 

3 

13 



3 
29 
10 
2 
6 
2 

1 

10 

U 

1 

I 

6 



4 

5 
1 
2 

2 
3 
1 


I 
1 




1 


1 

3 
2 
3 

2 
9 
1 

1 
2 




1 
22 



6 



915 159 



I- 



2 

111 

6 

4 

31 
3 
3 
2 

10 
8 

1 

10 



4 
I 
5 
1 
1 

1 



3 
2 

4 
1 



• 

1 
3 




5 

3 
9 
4 

2 
3 


1 
1 

2 
152 



1 

408" 



Number of 
suits in a 
Moonsiff'a 
^ S Court from 
g 18d3tol8d8. 






3 

100 
4 
2 

18 
I 
2 
3 

20 
9 
I 
4 

18 



4 

6 
2 
8 
2 
2 
8 

I 
4 
I 
2 





5 

2 
1 

2 
1 
3 
9 


2 
8 

o 


1 

74 

8 

9 



276 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Stamps. The average annual number of stamps sold 

during the last ten years was 1 , 1 1 ,795, of which 

10967 were of the value of 1 anna, 

27327 . /. 2 ditto, 

6847 4 ditto, 

490J0 8 ditto, 

197 . 12 ditto, 

10763 1 rupee, 

making a total average number 10,5,111 for 
sums under one rupee. 

Crimes. Gang robbery and the murder of children 

bery?"*^ ro - £^^ ^j^^ snke of their ornaments are crimes of 
less frequent occurrence in the present day 
than in former times. At one period the 
rivers of the eastern districts swarmed with 
dacoits, and it was not until some time after 
the Company's accession to the Government 
that these depredators were extirpated. In the 
early records of the district^ mention is fre- 
quently made of the plunder and burning of 
villages, of the murder of ryotts and their 
families, and of whole tracts of country being 
laid waste by these ruffians. They formed 
organised bands, frequently amounting to 
1 ,500 men in number, and headed by daring 
leaders, generally under the protection of 
some powerful Zemindar who shared the 
Roadi dan- plunder with them. A journey to Calcutta 
tb««« gangs, or Moorshedabad in those days, was an un- 
dertaking attended with no inconsiderable 
danger ; and required the adoption of mea- 
sures for self defence, that form a striking con- 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 277 

trast to the mode of travelling in the present 
day, which is performed with a facility and 
security that can be only appreciated by those, 
who experienced its risks in former times. 
The prevalent crimes are larceny, affrays and 
assault, to which may be added perjury, in- aflrrayHai.d 
cendiarism and adultery. Daring burglaries Perjury. 
are of rare occurrence, but unaggravated cases and adultery. 
of house breaking are not unfrequent in the 
town ; the articles that are stolen consist ge- 
nerally of small sums of money, ornaments, 
cloths, brass and copper utensils, hookahs, 
&c. There is a set of light fingered pilferers 
here, corresponding to pick pockets in Eng- 
land, who frequent the bazars in the evening, 
the great annual fairs in the district, and 
attend the different religious festivals, and 
wherever there happens to be a great con- 
course of people. They pick up small articles 
from huckster s stalls, deprivechildren of their 
ornaments in a crowd, and rob bystanders 
which they effect by cutting off the corner of 
the cloth, in which a native usually ties up 
his money. From this latter mode of stealing 
they have got the name of " Geree Kuttahs." 
They are all Mussulmauns, addicted to the 
use of intoxicating drugs and to gambling, 
and being by habit and repute thieves are 
the persons usually suspected, and indeed 
most frequently concerned in all the robberies 
that are committed in the town. 



Intoxicating drugs constitute the chief phy- 
sical source of crime in this district. The drug's" 



Inroxicating 



278 



TOPOGRAPHY OF' DACCA. 



Cause of 
roost of tbe 
crimes. 



Opium. 



Magistrate of the City in 1800 attributed most 
of the atrocious crimes to this cause, and the 
same may be said of them in the present day, 
the greater number of the homicides, assaults 
and affrays being committed by persons un- 
der their influence. Opium is consumed 
chiefly in the city, and by Mussulmauns; 
and gunjah in the country. The average 
annual quantity of opium sold by the Collec- 
tor from the year 1821 to 1838 amounted to 
892 pounds for the city, but only 63 pounds 
for the country. In addition to this, however, 
there is annually smuggled a large quantity of 
this article, estimated indeed at no less than 
f ths of the quantity sold by Government, so 
that the total comsumption of the drug (licit 
and illicit) among the 32,463 Mussulmaun 
inhabitants of the city, may be calculated at 
1560 pounds per year, which is about one- 
eighteenth of the quantity used annually in 
Britain.* Opium is occasionally smoked, but 
is more generally eaten in combination with 
pan or betel leaf, forming a substance called 
muddud, which is sold in shops established 
for the purpose, and of which there are about 
14 in the city. It is prepared by mixing the 
pan well dried and cut into small pieces with 
the opium, and keeping the mass over a slow 
Are, until it acquires the consistence of tar. 
It is then divided into pills, one of which, 80 
Ganjah and g^aius iu Weight, may be purchased for one 
tioiis"''"^*" P^^^- Ganjaii (Canabis Sativa) and its pre- 



Mode of 
vting it. 



* For five years preceding 1834 tke qaantity of opian consumtd 
iu Britain w«i Ibt. 28,000 per year. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF ]>AOCA. 



279 



parations are used chiefly in the country. 
The blossoms of the plant, when gathered 
at a certain season and dried, constitute gan- 
jah, and the green leaf when rubbed into 
a pulp, and mixed with milk, sugar, carda- 
mons, anise, pepper, &c. forms the substance 
called bhang or subzee. Mauzoon is com- 
posed of ganjah or bhang, ghee, milk and 
sugar, the mixture is boiled down to the 
consistence of an electuary, and is then made 
into small flat cakes of which two (each about 
the size of a rupee) may be procured for 
a pice. Cherus is prepared by collecting the 
active principle of ganjah, (which appears to 
exist in the form of oil,) either by boiling or 
by incision into the seed vessel ; it is smoked 
with tobacco, but as it is an expensive pre- 
paration it is only used by the more wealthy 
inhabitants. Almost the whole quantity of 
ganjah that is sold here is imported from 
other districts, specially Jessore and Moor- 
shedabad. Thelicit sale of this article amounts, 
it is estimated, to 3860 pounds per year in the 
country, and 2116 pounds for the city, but as 
considerable quantities are smuggled into the 
district, and sold by unauthorised venders, the 
total annual consumption may be calculated 
as being nearly double the above quantities. 
Ganjah and its difierent preparations are 
chiefly used by Hindoos, especially by the 
worshippers of Kali. There are 36 licit dis- 
tilleries of spirtuous liquors in the district. 
The total average quantity of Arrack manu- 
factured daily maybe estimated at 1800 quarts, 



Banfr. 
Mau2oon. 



Cberus. 



Ganjah im- 
ported from 
Jessore and 
Moorahedfi- 
kad. 

Quantity 
•old. 



Chiefly used 
by Hindoos. 



280 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



Number of 
di«tillfiies in 
tbe district. 



Arrack. 



Tnree and 
Keith a. 



which is about one-half the quantity that 
was made, according to the Magistrate's calcu* 
lation in 1800. In the distillation of Arrack, 
there is used a substance called Bhauker^ 
which is a compound of rice, opium, dhatoora 
and a number of other poisonous ingredients; 
it is imported from Tipperah, and sells at tbe 
rate of 1000 balls (each weighing about 10 
annas in weight) for 2^ or 3 rupees. There 
are three kinds of liquor made, varying in 
price from 4 to 9 annas per bottle (I tJ^ pint.) 
Arrack is consumed principally by the native 
Christians of Bhowal, and by the Chundals, 
Budiyos, Gurwarus and Kooch. The other 
intoxicating liquors that are drunk here are 
Taree and Keitah. The former is sold in 
April and May : there is only one licensed 
shop for its sale in the town, but it is hawked 
about the streets by the " Paunsees," or per- 
sons who extract it from the Tall and Khajoor 
trees, and is chiefly consumed by the prosti- 
^^^J"'"* '^o'^ tutes in the city. Keitah is a fermented 
liquor which is prepared in March, April, 
May and June, and is jnade for domestic 
consumption much in the same way that beer 
and ale are brewed in England, ft is made 
from rice, and the barks and roots of several 
trees! as the Kuthbell, Gaub, Gourds, &c. 
which are put into a large earthen jar filled 
with M'ater, which is then buried for some 
time* under ground. The liquor is drank in 
its fermented state, and as it is drawn off for 
daily use, a quantity of water equal to that 
of the liquor abstracted is added to the mate* 






AW i A f :( 



4 # 



^ TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 281 



reiHs in the jar, and in thi? way a constant 
supply of keitah is kept up for about three 
months in the year. It is principally used 
by the Mussulmauns, of whom several fami- 
lies living in the same neighbourhood fre- 
quently club together and have a jar among 
them. Keitah is often made of great strength 
and intoxicating power by means of Bhauker, 
and similar ingredients, and is drank by the 
low Hindoos during the festival of the HoUee. 

» • 

Gambling, which is of itself an offience Gambling 
punishable by the Magistrate, is very preva- o/crTmc?'*'^* 
lent in the town, and next to intoxicating 
drugs, it may be said, to be the most fertile 
source of crime in the district. A good deal of 
gambling is carried on at the muddud shops, 
but there are also established gambling houses Gaming 
in diflferent parts of the city, where the Ii:i;:5%;*'d*i^ 
police are bribed not to interfere. Hindoos [he'cLr*' ""^ 
and Mussulmauns are addicted to it, but espe- 
cially the latter who not unfrequently spend 
days and nights in this way. CarBs, dice 
and solae, (a game of cowrees) are the usual 
modes of play practised in these places. Occa- 
sionally the desperate gamblers have recourse 
to a more simple procedure. Sitting down 
in a circle on the floor, they deposit their 
stakes smeared with a little sugar or molasses 
•before them, and the individual of the party, 
upon whose money a fly or insect happens 
first to alight, becomes the winner of the whole. 

2 M 









*• 



282 TOPOGBAPHY OP DACCA, 1 .;j 

Brothels. The numerous brothels in the twrn also 
constitute another source of crime, ipd aro 
not unfrequently the scenes of assaaln, thefts 
and homicides. 



Assaults 
and petty 
affrays of fre- 
quent occur- 
rence. 



Petty affrays and assaults are of frequent 
occurrence in the city, and are usually com- 
mitted by persons under the influence of opi- 
um or ganjah. They generally originate in 
disputes regarding the boundaries of land 
and tenements, the right of pathways, the 
intrusion of neighbours on each other's pre- 
mises, and quarrels between children ; the 
want of punctuality on the part of embroi- 
derers, in finishing Kasseidas, also frequently 
gives use to a great deal of wrangling and 
strife between them and the Oostagars and 
Oostanees, or persons employed by the mer- 
chants to superintend this kind of work. ' In 
all these cases, a long continued war of words, 
in which the women take an active part, 
usually precedes the outbreak of open hosti- 
lities ; when at length, the male belligerents 
screwing up their courage with a dose of 
opium or ganjah, sally out and attack each 
other with lateeahs or bamboo clubs. The 
combat is seldom of long duration, and always 
ceases on the first appearance of blood, with 
which the wounded party takes care to be- 
daub his clothes as much as possible, pr^a- 
ratory to laying his case before the Darogah 
or Magistrate. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DA€CA. 283 

The following statement of cases tried be- Cases tried 
fore the Magistrate in 1836 will tend to shew ghnnte L ^' 
the character of the offences usually commit- 
ted in the district* 

Assaults arising from disputes regarding 

lands, 167 

Ditto „ „ „ joint pro- 
perty, 12 

Money, . . 23 

Julkar, . . 11 

Market, . . 9 

Boat hire, . 2 



99 J» 9f ft 

>» 99 *> J> 

99 99 99 99 

99 99 99 99 

between Ze- 



99 99 99 99 



mindars and Talookdars, 39 

1 „ „ „ „ between Ze- 
mindars and ryotts for rent, 66 

Affrays, &c. occasioned by the seduction 

and elopement of females, 43 

I>itto arising from disputes regarding ac* 

counts or nekass, • • 14 

Complaints of servants for arrears of 

wages, 64 

Assaults arising from disputes regarding 

caste, * « 13 

Ditto ,, enticing ryotts to set- 

tle in other parts of the country, .... 8 
Illegal ccmfinement of persons, ••••.... 29 

Ditto seizure of cattle, ^ 23 

Disputes regarding houses, walls and 

drains, 32 

Ditto ditto stopping of pathways, 34 

Illegal levying of fines, 4 



284, TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA^ 

Compelling ryotts and others to sign 

agreements, 29 

Illegal seizure of property, 17 

Cutting down trees, crops and destroying 

indigo, 10 

Illegal sale of muddud, 3 

Assaults and beating producing abortion, 4 

Regarding the building of houses, 9 

Illegal seizure of money, 10 

Absconding with ditto, 5 

Ditto with jewels, 3 

Illegal attachment of property, 2 

Bribery, 4 

Forgery, 2 

Rape, 3 

Incendiarism, , 1 

Adultery, 1 

Thefts and robberies, 44 

Forcibly collecting rent, illegally dispos- 
sessing persons of land, &c 5 

Miscellaneous cases, including petty as- 
saults and affrays, &c • 561 

Total, 1307 



Pegury. Perjury is exceedingly common here, and 

is committed generally by a set of persons 
who live under the protection of attornies and 
vakeels, by whom they are instructed what 
evidence to give. False evidence is most 
frequently practised in attestation of deeds, and 
in minor cases not likely to attract much 
attention. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



285 



Incendiarism is attributed to the dealers in incendiarisni* 
straw and bamboos, and also to the " Geree Kut- 
tahs/' who on the occasion of a fire in the town 
practise their profession to great advantage. 



Adultery, it is asserted by the natives, is of 
more frequent occurrence in the present day 
than formerly, and is ascribed to the leniency 
of the regulations in reference to the punish- 
ment of this offence. In a majority of instances 
it leads to the administration of drugs to 
procure abortion, a practice which is also pre- 
valent among slaves belonging to Zemindars, 
and among the unmarried daughters of the 
higher castes of Hindoos. 



Adultery. 



Wilful homicide arises in most instances from 
jealousy between husband and wife, and is fre- 
quently accompanied with an attempt at suicide. 



Homicide. 



There has been no attempt to perpetrate a Number of 
Buttee since the practice was prohibited by frUfeo^f^^*' 
Government. Between the years 1815 and J^J^I^g^^^ 
1828 one hundred and ninety-five widows 
burned themselves on the funeral piles of their 
husbands in this district. Of this number 
10 were under 20 years of age. 



43 




between 21 and 30 ditto. 


49 




» 


31 and 40 „ 


46 




>» 


41 ahd 50 „ 


34 




» 


51 and 60 „ 


12 




?» 


61 and 70 „ 


1 




upwards 


of 70 



286 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA* 

Of this number 28 had no children, and 24 
110 infant children. 

Torture for- Formerly it was a common practice among 
wmmoVZ Zemindars to confine their ryotts in irons, and 
m^g Zemiu. ^^ subjcct them to torture of different kinds, 
and to compel them to pay their rents, in reta- 
liation perhaps for the treatment they them- 
selves suffered from the Government. Offi- 
cers employed in collecting the revenue, 
especially in the time of Morshud Kooli 
Khan, had frequently recourse to most 
disgusting punishments to enforce the pay- 
ment of revenue. Zemindars in the present 
day seldom go beyond the length of impri- 
soning their ryotts, though instances of more 
severe punishment occasionally occur. They 
or their Putwarees and Naibs settle the 
greater number of petty quarrels and disputes 
that occur on their estates, for which purpose 
they hold a formal court where they hear 
complaints, and fine or otherwise punish 
delinquents. 

srate of tbe The Civil and Criminal Jails of this district 
and'cr/minai?^ are contained in one building which stands 
on the site of the old Fort. It consists of ten 
wards, each with an open court in front ; 
and the whole building is surrounded by a 
high wall enclosing a considerable extent of 
ground. The Civil Jail is calculated to contain 
30, and the Criminal one 800 prisoners. The 
average number is 526. The daily allow ance 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



287 



of food to a crimiQal prisoner at work on the 
roads is of the value of two pice, in 1790 it 
was one anna per day. 



Abstract Statement of Crimes committed sutement of 



within the Zillah of Dacca, and number of mitted and * 
persons apprehended, convicted and acquitted hended,conmI 
from 1830 to 1838. llX:!!^ 

to 1838. 



Description of CrimeM. 



Murder , 

Homicide, not amotiiuing to murder, 

"With torture, 



Dacoitee, 



cir- 



Burglary, 



Thefts, including 
cattle stealing, 



Wounding or personal injury, . 
UoHttended with aggravating 

cumsrances, 

^Attempts to commit, 

Unattended with aggravating cir 

cumstancefi 

Exceeding 60 rupees, 

10 ditto 

Under 10 ditto 

^Attempts to commit, 

With murder, including the murder 
of children for the sake of thei 

ornaments, .,..., 

Unattended with aggravating ci 

ciimstances , 

Exceeding 50 rupees, 

„ 10 ditto,. , 

LUndf»r 10 ditto , 

Receiving stolen or plundered property 

With homicide, 

loss of life 

wounding or violenr beating, 
violent breach of the peace,,. 

[^Simple, 

Assaults with wounding or personul injury, , 

Arson, «... 

Forgery or cy>unterfeiting the coin, , 

Perjury 

Rape, 



\ 



\ 






Affrays, 



\ 



ft 
I* 



Adultery 

Miscellaneous crimes,. 



Total,. 



I, 



k 
«> 



2 » 

8.f 






5 wl 



;| 



39 

13 

1 

1 

38 

3 

75 

15 

85 

74 

1 

1 

196 

27 
35 
98 
45 
2 
1 

4 

31 

6 

339 

2 

5 

5 

4 

1 

2927 



4024 



.3 



3 
I 



157 

44 

15 

6 

472 

9 

77 

22 

42 

42 

1 



23.5 

53 

5^ 

lit 

134 

17 

54 

86 

31 

83 

364 

2 

8 

20 

3 

6 

4794 



7236 



51 

20 

6 



99 

1 

21 

14 

23 

31 

1 



163 

25 

40 

88 

71 





49 

12 

45 

602 

I 

1 

3 

I 

6 
3516 



e 
o 

IE- 

5? 



52 

13 

9 



228 

2 

8 

8 
16 
11 





55 

24 

14 

21 

37 

II 

32 

17 

17 

22 

142 

1 

I 

11 

1 


876 



4890.1669 

I 






54 

11 

6 

141 



48 


3 






17 

4 

2 

2 

26 

6 

•22 

20 

2 

If 

80 



6 

6 

1 


202 

678 



288 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



CHAPTER X. 

Articles of Food— Cause and Effect of Plenty 
and Scarcity — Wages of Labour — Condition 
of the Poor and Slaves. 

terrT^portkfn ^^^ castem part of Bengal has always 
°Mna"^ofthe ^^^^ coiisidcred the granary in rice for the 
province. wholc province. Hamilton, who visited 
Dacca about the end of the 17th century, 
remarks that ** the plenty and cheapness of 
provisions i^re here incredible," and almost 
Not strictly cvcry writer,eitherbefore or since his time, has 
DftccA itself, made a somewhat similar observation.* Strict- 
ly speaking, however, this character is not ap- 
plicable to Dacca itself, but to the surrounding 
districts of Sylhet, Mymensing, Backergunge 
and Tipperah, which in former times constitut- 
ed the chief portion of the province to which 
Dacca gave its name ; and which were then, 
The district as thcv Still coutiuuc to bc, the principal 

of Dacca if«elf ^ . ^ 

does not pro- grain districts in the country. The district of 

duce eno' for 

its own iiihabi. Dacca itsclf docs uot producc grain sufficient 
for the consumption of its own inhabitants, but 
derives a supply of this' article, equal at 
least to the quantity of its own production, 
from the above places, and rice, therefore, is 
dearer here than in the surrounding country. 



* Caesar Frederick in 1565 mentions tbe cbeapness of provisions at 
Sundeep, and states as an instance that he purchased " 2 salted kina 
for a larine. (12 shillings and sixpence) 4 hogs for the same price, a faC 
hen for a penny, (and yet the people said he paid twice their worth), and 
other commodities at a like price."«^/Hircfta<'« CoUection iff Tra^tit^ 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA^ 



889 






€8 



TO 

g 
o 

a 
a 

o 






V 



a 

OQ 

c 
o 






CO. 

00 



tjb o 

«H CO 

C8 so 



a> 



t3 >> 



I 

re 

o 

C 



.O 






•aDfflO 

• 


'punei^ jad )«aq^ 


a: 2 
03 


*a9«jaAV' 
'pun«jf[ jad *)ooq^ 


05 ^ 


'UiajC^I aSvjaAV 

*pun«iv Jdd 
l^Q aaiooMoopi 


-4M 


'SJBdiC g5 aSuaAy 
'piin«|^ jad 


CL « 

< 2 


'SJiaX S5 aSvjaAy 
*punBj^ jad 
l«qa ailins 


05 


•SjeaXg^aSuaAV 
'pua«|f jad 


• - 

< z 

• 

OS -* 


*BJ«dX sg 8]9uaA V 

*pun«^ jad 
aajassaq^ l*^CI 


»< 2 
< 2 
05 • 


'SJvaX g^ aSvjaAy 
*pun«^ jsd 




-sjvaX 9 aSvjaAV 
'pun«i«g jad 
891^ sooy 


< 2 
05 * 


*pun«p^ jad 

031^ jClB2[Bq800p|[ 


ei 2 
< 2 


*tj«aX S5 aSsjaAV 
*paii«^ jad 


«u 58* 
-C 2 

05 ® 


-•jvaX 6^ oSuaAy 

'punvji^ Jad 

Mi^ anoaiy 


rf - 



Average pri- 
ces of grain 
ID the city for 
different peri- 
ods. 



2 N 



29d TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA^ 

According to this statement, amoun rice 
sells here at a price, which is about two-thirds 
. that of moog dhal^ bhoot, and wheat, and. about 
one-half less than that of urar dhal. From 
the limrted cultivation of the different grains 
yielding dhal, this article is less extensively- 
used by the poorer classes here, than in other 
parts of the country, and only as a substitute 
for fish. Urar and moog dhal are eaten by 
persons of the middle classes, and khessaree, 
which is the cheapest of all the leguminous 
grains that are considered pure among the 
Hindoos, constitutes next to rice the principal 
ingredient of diet of those who- art pro- 
hibited by caste from eating fish. The con- 
Wheat prin- gumptiou of whcat is almost entirely confined 

cipi«lly con- * *' 

Slimed by Eu. to Europcans and the wealthier classes of 
Mu88uimauiif>. Mussuhuauus in the district. Although rice is 

somewhat dearer than in the surrounding: 
country, the difference is probably compen- 
sated by the abundance of the other articles 
of food, as fish, vegetables, salt and oil, some 
of which are cheaper here than in the more 
remote districts. All the rivers and morasses 
Fish. teem with fish, and next to rice, this article 

maybe said to constitute the chief article of 
Bazars pien. diet of th« pcoplc. The bazars both in town 
n^u y suppi- ^^^ country are well supplied throughout the 

year, and during some months they present no 
less than twenty varieties, which may be pur- 
chased at half the price usually charged in 
Calcutta. It is sold whole, in slices, or in 
heaps ; pootee (a species of cyprinus) is the 
cheapest kind, and is sold at the rate of f of a 



9 

lH>POGRAPHY QF DACCA* $91 

potind for 40 cowrees or the fourth part of a 
pice, which is little more than ^ of a farthing. 
Vegetables, both cultivated and uncultivated, Vegetabi«»« 

. . /. , I /» ^*^y plentiful, 

consisting of the two great classes oi root& 

i^nd unripe fruits, and of leaves and stalks are 

i^o less abundant than fish, and are equally 

cheap. There are upwards of 80 kinds sold 

in the bazars, of which 1 9 are procurable 

throughout the year, 15 during 6 months, 

SO for 4 months, 22 for 3 months, and 6 for 2 

months. A quantity of chillies, brinjals> 

kuchoo or meetha-komra, sufficient for two 

meals, may be had for ^ of a pice or the 

seventh part of a farthing. The ingredients 

that are used as condiments, as oil, salt, garlic, coBdiments. 

onions, turmeric and ginger are all plentiful 

and procurable at moderate rates ; salt is coin- .sait« 

paratively cheap, and forms but a small item 

of expenditure in a family, or where two or 

three persons cook together^ Mustard oil Miuurd 

which is manufactured from se£d imported 

into the district varies in price, and is occa* 

•ionally dear, but all the other articles are 

exceedingly cheap, including tamarinds and 

the various acids used in cookery. The 

following statement shews the average price 

of salt, and oil, for a period o£ ten years : 

Vaeca. SyUut, ChiUagom^. Average 

^alt per Maund... Rs. 4 15 8 Rs. 5 15 Us. 2 2 4 price of Salt 

Mustard Oil per do. Rs. 7 13 5 Rs. 8 7 11 Rs. 8 1 9 qu fw'io""* 

years. 

The fuel which is used consists chiefly of ^ Fuel pienti. 

11 • Li. ' ■«*nd cheap. 

reeds and of brushwood from the neighbour- 



^92 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA; 



ing jungle : it is sold in small bundles, and a 
quantity sufficient for one person's use per 
month may be purchased for 3 annas. Most 
of the working classes and residents in the 
town lay in a stock of firewood, which lasts 
them for one year. It is brought into town 
and sold by the boat load during the rains, at 
which season it is particularly cheap. 



Earthen - 
cooking uten* 
sils. 



Earthen cooking utensils are of an inferior 
quality, and somewhat clearer than in the 
western districts. Stone dishes are in com^ 
mon use among the lower classes of Hindoos, 
and wooden platters among the poorer Mus** 
sulmauns. 



Articles of The principal articles of food that are sold 
their prepared in their prepared state, are khoee, choorah, 

cheeta or pittah, phalooree and burrah; 
khoe is simply paddee* (rice in husk) parched 
upon hot sadd, and next rubbed with the hand 
upon a fine sieve, by which the husk is sepa- 
rated from the grain .f Khoee mixed with 
molasses forms the substance called moorkee. 
Choorah is made of paddee which has beea 
steeped in water ; it is then, toasted, in aa 
earthen vessel, and is afterwards pounded in 
the dhenkee until it becomes flattened. Rice 
when sprinkled with salt, and parched in the 
same way as khoee, is called moorhee. The 



* The Samatran name for rice in the husk. 

f Parched corn wbb a common article of diet anioiig the Jews# who 
Vied it on the occasion of a journey or sudden emergency miicli in the 
tame way as the HindooR use koee, &c* (Leviticas XXVIII* 14^^ 
(Samuel XVII. 17 and XXV. 18.) 



'TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 291 

Hindoos live on these different substances, 
when they have not an opportunity of cook- 
ing, as occasionally happens when they 
travel by water in company with Mussul- 
mauns or persons of different castes^ The 
other articles, viz. cheeta, phalooree and 
burrah are used by the Mussulmauns^ The 
first is ground rice mixed with water and 
baked into small cakes. Phalooree consists 
of pounded bhoot or muttur dhal (pease 
meal) mixed with pepper, onions, mustard 
oil, and salt. Burrah is a similar compound 
with the addition of vegetables, as chillies^ 
bygun, &c. These several articles are to be xo be pro. 
had at the shops of the Moodees or dealers in woodiM' *^* 
grain, and at a price only a little higher than *^**^** 
that of the various ingredients in their unpre- 
pared state. Besides the above there are 
several other articles of a more expensive 
description sold in the city, as kheersa or 
new cheese, which is hawked about the 
streets, and is a favorite article of diet among the 
Hindoos ; and kobabs of kid's flesh, breads 
cheese and sweetmeatsof different kinds which 
are prepared for the use of the Mussulmauns. 
Among the latter, the most elegant looking 
articles are falooda cakes, which are made of 
rice, starch, sugar and rose water, and tinged 
with some pink or yellow colouring matter* 
Falooda, sherbet (eau sucre), prepared pan, 
together with the other articles above men- 
tioned, are sold every evening in the choke,, 
where prepared hookahs are also to be had. 
Various kinds of preserved fruits^ &c. as 



294 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCAi 

pine apples, limes, mangoes, ginger, and sw-, 
turmoollee (asparagus racemosua) are also 
sold in the town. 

transpl^fng^ ^^^^ *^ ^^*® abundance of the necessaries of 
rit.H Jir"^ *^^^' ^^^ facinty of transporting tbem to market 
cherness^^*'' IS the most essential element of their cheap- 
ness; and this is an advantage which is pos- 
sessed by the district in an eminent degree, the 
numerous navigable rivers enabling the ryotts 
ham" or*^a°r[ ^^ bring their produce to market at very little 
diwic" '^' expense or trouble. The number of hauts or 
weekly markets, exclusive of those in the 
city, is 81, or 1 to 12 square miles of the cul- 
tivated portion of the district. They are 
held twice or thrice a week, and the articles 
exposed for sale consist of agricultural pro- 
duce, and of native manufacture, as ric^, dif-^ 
itTbem.'"''^^ ferent grains, gour, ghee, salt, oil, tobacco, 
turmeric, chillies, ginger, betelnuts, pan, 
inats, cotton, iron, copper and brass utensilsi 
ne^e^'ry Tr l>esides fish, &c. Two aud a half pice is the 

liilen'c? o?*** *^^^®* ^"™ "^^^^^ ^^^ *^^^ ^^i'y Subsist* 

labourer. enco of a labouring man, but in a family, oi: 
where two or more live together, the expense 
is less, though hot much under two pice. 
Many of the Hindoo weavers in the city live 
at the Akharas, paying the Byragees a cer- 
tain sum daily or monthly for their board ; 
the usual rate is one anna per day, for which 
they have two meals, consisting alternately of 
dhal and rice. These Akharas, or convents, 
answer the purpose of inns, aud are frequent- 
ly resorted to by the worshippers of Khrisfanai^ 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA* 295 

when they come into the city for only a few 
days. There are no serais in the district^ 
and the few persons that travel by land, 
therefore find board and lodging at these 
Akharas, or at the shops of the Moodees or 
dealers in grain. 

Cause and effect of plenty and scarcity.— cipYuySl 
What chiefly contributes to a plentiful har- ^"f^^lJ^^ ^'^. 
vest in this district, is a high inundation th^ ^^^t* 
preceding year, followed in the cold season 
by a moderate fall of rain, which enables 
the husbandman to plough his land. This 
succeeded by frequent, but not by heavy 
showers, in the spring months, and subse- 
quently by a gradual rise of the rivers, con^- 
stitutes the most favorable weather for the 
growth of rice. Of seasons of extraordinary 
plenty in the district there are several in'- 
stances on record, and in all of them, the 
lowest price of grain appears to have been 
ft maunds or 640 pounds for the rupee. This 

*■ ^ ^ * Low price 

was the rate at which rice was sold in 1689, of «»•»»" '" 
when the Nawaub Shaista Khan, in order to muimer com. 

memorated by 

commemorate so remarkable an event, bmlt up the Nawaub. 
tha western gate of the city, with an injunction 
that it should not be opened until rice became 
equally cheap^ and which is said in conse- 
quence to have remained shut, until the return 
of a plentiful harvest enabled Jesswont Roy, 
the deputy of Serferaz Khan, to re-open it in 
1739. The years 1772, 1795, 1796 and 1797 of 1772, 

. 1 , . , ^ 1795, 1796 

are mentioned as havmg been, seasons of anu 1797 sea. 

11 Til <> 8<^"« of great 

great abundao/se. In the latter year^ the abundance. 



296 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 

harvest was so plentiful, that from the want 
of a market for the agricultural produce 
of the district, the public revenue became 
affected. Rice was sold at 8 maunds for 
the rupee ; chillies, it is mentioned by 
the Collector, that used to bring 2^ and 
sometimes 3 rupees per maund, now scarce- 
ly paid their transportation to market; 
gour or molasses was reduced from 4 rupees 
to 12 annas, and almost every other article 
of common consumption was sold at a rate 
equally cheap. The parties that derive the 
greatest benefit from an abundant harvest 
The grain ^rc the merchants who purchase grain for 

merchants de- ' ^ 

rive profit. exportation. From their command of capital 

they are enabled to regulate the price of 
grain in the bazars, and as the ryotts gene- 
rally borrow from them, at an exorbitant 
Tate of interest, the latter, in order t^ liqui- 
date their debts, and to pay their rents to 
the Zemindar, are generally obliged to sell 
the produce of their fields immediately it is 
reaped, and at a price which yields but a 
small profit. The inhabitants in the city also 
derive considerable benefit from plentiful 
harvests, but a reduction in the price of grain 
never lessens the price of other agricultural 
commodities or of any of the common manu- 
factures of the district. Ryotts who are not 
in debt, after laying aside a sufiicient quan- 
tity of grain for one yearns consumption, 
usually lend out the remaining stock to their 
neighbours. This is a common practice, I 
believe, throughout India, and is mentioned 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



29T 



by Knox as yielding in Ceylon in his time, a 
profit of 50 per cent. For each maund of 
grain received, one and a half is returned to 
the lender at the end of the year. Occasion-; 
ally the debt is paid at the expiration of six 
months, and in grain of a different crop or 
quality from that which has been borrowed, 
in which case the rate of interest varies, but 
in every instance the mode and time of pay- 
ment, are specified in writing at the time the 
transaction takes place. 



Scarcity most frequently arises from a high Scarcity 
inundation, or irom heavy ram early m the tion or heavy 
season. The latter frequently prevents the 
seed of the Amoun rice from vegetating, and 
is also productive of great injury to the tender 
plants of the Aoos crop. There are several 
causes which produce a partial or local scar- 
city. In the southern parts of the district and 
in Backergunge in particular, crabs occasion- From cnbf. 
ally do great mischief to the rice crops, by 
cutting the stalks of the plant. In 1791 the 
pergunnah of Buzergoomedpore and seven 
other estates in its vicinity, suffered so much 
from this cause, that the payment of revenue 
to the amount of Rs. 42,264 was suspended 
by Government on this account, and in the 
year 1799, one half of the Aoos crop in the 
same part of the country was similarly des- 
troyed. The detachment of weeds and aquatic 
plants as the Pana (Pistia stratiotes), and 
Hingsta (Hingsta repens), from the surface of 
the morasses, is also often very injurious. 

2o 



From weeds. 



I 



298 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

They frequently float in large masses or fields^ 

and bury the plant under water until it dies* 

From cat- Two species of cattcrpiUar, distinguished by 

erpi ars. ^^^ namcs of Magcca and Busha, are said to 

be very destructive to the rice crops ; the 
former feeds on the substance of the grain, 
and the latter on the leaves of the plant. 

From beetles. There is also a small dark colored beetle 
which is very injurious to the crops. This 
insect suddenly appears and generally in large 
flights ; and destroys the grain by squeezing 
out the milky juice, with itsantennoe, leaving 
the husk quite empty and flattened.* Locusts 
are rare and are almost unknown to the ryotts 
Hailstorms, as dcstroycrs of their crops. Hail storms 
do great injury to the summer (or Aoos 
and Bora) crop, and such is. the dread 
of them, that a class of persons find a liveli- 
hood among the ryotts, by pretending to 
protect their fields from their effects. This 
latter crop is also much exposed to depreda- 
tions by hogs, rats and birds, and watching 
the fields on this account, forms no inconsi- 
derable portion of the labour of a ryott's family 

From drought, at this scasou of the year. Drought, unless it 
happens to be excessive, is generally produc- 
tive of less serious consequences here, than a 
heavy fall of rain. The famine of 1769-70 
which arose from this cause, was preceded by 
a sudden and long continued inundation in 
the Dacca district, that destroyed the greater 



* This insect is distinguisbed by six wbite spots on its back. Last 
year the crops ia the vicinity of Plass on the Luckia, suffered much 
irom it. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 299 

portion of the crops. It was succeeded by 
intense heat and high winds, during which 
time no rain fell, the tanks and wells were 
dried up, and fires arising from the friction . 
of bamboos and other trees, were of constant 
occurrence in the jungles and in the vicinity 
of villages. During the scarcity that succeed- Distress and 
ed in the rainy season, the poor chiefly sub- the pooffrom 
sisted on the Sampala or stalks of the water 
lily and other aquatic plants : a great many 
perished, while the survivors deprived of seed 
and cattle, were •obliged to cultivate the 
common jungle plants for their subsistence. 
It appears, however, from the report of Mr, 
Middleton, who visited Dacca in the follow- 
ing year that this part of Bengal suffered in 
a considerably less degree than the districts 
to the north-west. Of all the causes produc- The most 
ing scarcity in this part of the country, the o7?cMdty***** 
most frequent is a sudden rise of the eastern 
rivers, and from the proximity of the district 
to the sources of the Megna, this river is 
generally more destructive in this way than 
the Berhampooter. The dearth that occurred 
in 1784, and the famine of 1787-8 arose from „ . . 

' Famine m 

a sudden rise of these rivers. In the former ]1^ *"^ 

1787-8. 

year the Megna rose early in the season, and 
destroyed the Aoos crop when it was ripe for 
the sickle. At the time this occurred, there 
was a deficiency of grain in the district, owing 
to the failure of the preceding crop, and to a 
large exportation of this article to other parts 
of the country. In consequence of the famine 
in the north-western provinces the preceding 



300 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

year, the ryotts had been induced by the 

in n&4 ^^ "*^* ^^S^ prices, to dispose of their stock of paddee, 
and to trust to the summer crop for their 
. subsistence, but now that this crop was des- 
troyed, they were all at once reduced to the 
greatest distress, rice suddenly rose in price, 
and dif&culty was experienced in procuring 
it even at 16 seers for the rupee. This 
high rate was in a great measure occasioned 
by the precarious state of the boron or winter 
The cause crop. It was now uudcr water, and as long as 

of the price of , • 

rice. its fate was uncertain, the gtain dealers opened 

their shops only at night, and refused to sell 
more than one seer of rice to one person at 
a time. The dearth appears to have been at 
its height in the month of October, when the 
failure of the winter crop was no longer 
^ doubtful. At this time the poorer inhabitants 
became riotous, and insisted on having the 
grain in the markets on their own terms, and 
at length proceeded to plunder the shops. T< 
prevent these outrages Mr. Day, the CoUecto^ 
and Magistrate, employed sepoys to protect 
the bazars, and at the same time made it 
generally known in the city, that as there was 
no established rate for selling grain, the deal- 
ers had authority to dispose of it, on their own 
terms, and that any person attempting to take 
otherwise would be punished. This judicious 
conduct produced the desired effect, rice be- 
ing immediately brought to all the markets, 
and sold as at the commencement of the dearth 
Theinun. at 17 scers for the rupee. This inundation 

leme iTihc was most Severely felt in the Sylhet and Tip- 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 301 

perah districts. Villages with their inhabi- districts of 
tants and cattle were swept away, and so great T^ppcrah. 
was the scarcity, that rice which in ordinary 
iseasons was procurable at four maunds or 320 
seers per rupee, was now selling at 17 seerd, 
the same rate as in the city. The number of 
pergunnahs and talooks, that suffered from 
this inundation amounted to one hundred and 
twenty. "The distress of the inhabitants," Thedutrew 
Mr. Day remarks, " exceeds all description. tam8*'thcw- " 
Were the damage simply confined to the loss '**"** 
of their crops, it might in a short time be 
surmounted, but their cattle and property are 
gone and the ryotts driven to the necessity of 
seeking shelter in different p&rts, so that the 
country is in a great measure deserted, and 
scarcely a cultivated spot to be seen." 



in 1787.8. 



In the year 1787-8 the district was destined ._ ^^"j^^^'^n 
to suffer a similar calaniity, which was attend- 
ed however with far more serious conse- 
quences than those of the preceding one. 
Early in the month of March the rains set in, 
and continued incessant from this time up to 
the middle of July, when the rivers rose to 
an unprecedented height, and inundated the 
whole of the country, to an extent never re- 
membered by the oldest inhabitant. The 
streets of Dacca, which in ordinary seasons of 
inundation are several feet above the highest 
level of the surrounding rivers, were now 
overflowed to a depth sufficient to admiit 
of boats sailing through them, while through, 
out the country, the inhabitants were obliged 



302 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 



Destitute 
Btate of the 
ryotts. 



FaiDine. 



to quit their huts> and betake themselves to 
rafts or raised stages constructed of bamboos. 
In the southern division of the district, the 
effects of this inundation appear to have been 
most disastrous. The early crops were in 
most places completely destroyed by it. From 
the heavy fall of rain at the commencement 
of the season, the young and tender plants of 
the Aoos crop soon perished, and at a subse-- 
quent period the Amoun crop was completely 
destroyed by it. Of all the pergunnahs in 
the district those of Rajanaghur, Car tick pore 
and Russoolpore sustained the greatest injury. 
Mr. Day who visited this part of the country 
in the month of November, remarks " that it 
presented such a scene of distress as he never 
beheld, the lands being totally inundated, the 
country not shewing the least sign of cultiva- 
tion and the inhabitants living on raised 
stages" above the water. Both here and in 
the adjoining pergunnahs the ryotts were 
reduced to the greatest destitution. Famine 
raged with violence, and obliged the greater 
number to forsake their homes and search 
of subsistence elsewhere, whilst every day 
hundreds were dying from starvation. In 
the month of July 1787 the supplies of grain 
in the city became scanty, and from the now 
certain ruin of the early crops, and the un- 
favoilrable prospects of the winter harvest, 
apprehensions of a future scarcity began to 
prevail, and had the effect of raising the price 
of provisions from 300 to 400 per cent, ex- 
ceeding that of common seasons. The rich 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 303 

inhabitants endeavoured to procure and to 
hoard up as much grain as possible, and pur-* 
chased it at any price, while the dealers 
taking advantage of the general panic, exposed 
only small quantities for sale at a time. With 
the view .of relieving the poor and providing 
against the future, Mr. Day proposed to Go- punpro- 
vernment, that the Collectors in Behar should cjdiectJ/^o 
be instructed to export grain to Dacca, to be from"othM" 
sold at a price sufficient to cover the prime ^"''"^*- 
cost and charges of transportation. On a 
public measure of this kind, and on the en- 
couragement to general importation held out 
to traders by the remission of duties on grain, 
he relied on obtaining a supply sufficient to 
meet the wants of the district. He was con- 
vinced that no good would accrue from fixing 
the price of grain ; but on the contrary, that 
any official interference of this kind, would 
only add to the general distress, by inducing 
dealers to conceal whatever stock they had 
in hand. The importation* during the past 
year 'exceeded that of any former period, 
but still it was inadequate to supply the 
wants of the population, and the consequence 
was, that before the beginning of the year 
1788, several thousands had perished from 
the effects of the scarcity. It was not until 
April that any supply was received, at which 
time 7250 maunds reached the town. To 
add to the existing distress, a fire broke out Diatrees in 
in the city at this period, and burned 7000 crea/edV"* 
huts to the ground. A large quantity of destroyed a 
grain belonging to the retail dealers, was ofgrain"*"^*^^ 



304 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA* 

destroyed by it, and it is reported by the 
Collector,.that 100 persons lost their lives oa 
this occasion. The famine appears to have 

• reached its height in this month. In m^ny. 

parts of the district, there was scarcely any rice 
procurable even at 4 seers for the rupee, and 
the consequence was that.the country became 
deserted.. Multitudes of poor famished crea* 
tures flocked into the. city in search of food, 
ajod as far as the charity and m^ans of thQ 
more opulent inhabitants <;ould avail, their 
wants were supplied. Between nine and ten 
thousand persons were fed daily by public 
contribution, but from the impossibility of 
relieving all, a great number of poor wretchei^ 
died in the streets, the town and its environs 
in this respect, Mr. Day remarks, " preseo.t- 
ing a scene quite shocking to the sight.'." 
From the enquiries instituted by this gentle- 
Great loBs man to ascertain the loss of life by this direful 

^ **' calamity, he calculated that 60,000 persons 

perished during the inundation and the sub- 
sequent famine. '^ No pergunnahs suffered 
in so dreadful a degree," he observes, " as 
Rajanaghur and Cartickpore. The distress 
and misery to which the inhabitants were 
reduced, is painful to the feeling mind to 
describe. The famine raged with such vio- 
lence that some thousands niiserably perished, 
while whole families forsook their habitatio^^ 
to avoid the most cruel of deaths, but so re- 

' duced and emaciated were many through 

sickness and hunger, that they ended their 
days in search of sustenance ; others repaire4 



TOPOGRAPHY OV DACCA. 305 

to the town of Dacca in the hopes of finding 

some alleviation of their distresses, and to 

such misery and wretchedness were mothers 

reduced by the griping hand of hunger, that 

forgetting all parental affection, they offered PmntB »hi 

their children for a handful of rice. AU foJVooi """"^ 

though every assistance was offered, yet th^ 

numbers that flocked i<ito the city, precluded 

the possibility of affording relief to all. Many 

thousand unhappy wretches consequently 

miserably perished in the city and environs/' 

The loss of property occasioned by this Great loss 

famine, appears to have been ' very great. ^^ P'op«riy- 

The Zemindars were unable to pay their revc; 

nue, and subsequently, from the loss of ryotts 

and cattle, their lands remained uncultivated 

for a considerable time. Several of the per- 

gunnahs were deprived of three-fourths of 

their industrious inhabitants, who died or 

emigrated, and the lands were in consequence 

soon overrun with jungle, infested with tigers 

and hogs. 

Wages of Labour. The year 1 788 may be ^J'^Jf/" •^ 
regarded as the era of those changes in the 
relative condition of the agriculture and 
manufactures of the district, which have so 
materially affected all classes of its inhabi- 
tants in later times. Prior to that date the The famine 
cultivation of land had been comparatively •][ im^^,e^*Io 
neglected, in favor of the more profitable agncuuurai 
occupations of spinning and weaving ; but in p"'****^*- 
^consequence of the miserable condition, to 
which the district was now reduced by 
famine, a demand for labour sprung up, and 
an impulse was thus given to agriculture, 
which has continued to the present day. 
The repeal of the duties on the exportation 
of grain, the abolition of the Arcot currency, 
which had long pressed as a heavy burthen 
on the agricultural classes, the permanent 
settlement of Government with landholders, 
the rapid decline of manufactures, and the 

2 p 



306 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



introduction of indigo and safflower as articles 
of produce for foreign markets, have all con- 
tributed to produce an extension of cultiva- 
And raipe tiou, and to raisc the price of agricultural and 
labour, commou labour, considerably above what it 

was in former times. 

The following table shews the increase of 
wages of labour, in a pergunnah in this district 
between the years 1803 and 1837. 



Difference 
of the price of 
wagei ill the 
yeari) of 1803 
and 1837. 



S 0) 

C 60 

B ea 



•^ CD 



»« CI 



d Oi 



CO 



OB 

S 6 = 

S o « 

n 



p-« 01 eo 



t3 • I ^ 

a» an •— 

o * oj 5 

o) c « r Q» 
^ « >.S Sp 
fca «* "S" r: * 



P Of 






03 

s 



■<4I s ^ s 



t^ »-; 00 o« 
C4 OI t-^ *-" 



C4 



^ OD 
©I — 



>i^ 



»« d 









c 

a 



a* 

E 



S» ,-. C« W '^ S 

CB 

o 
CQ 






CO 





• 




t^ 




00 


"s • 


OD 


9 o 




e ? 


■ 


<:^ 


CO 

8 




^* 



«> S2 fc 

^ 03 C4 



t^ ^ <0 G< 

C< CI -^ — 



Qfi 



00 »o « 



CI o o> o 



ft ss 

« 

a » . 
o 






^ C4 C9 ;:3 

o 
o 



S ^ G9 09 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 



30T 



Hiere has been a corresponding increase 
in ihe wages of servants, employed in the 
collection of revenue, during the same period. 
The following is taken from the accounts of 
17 estates in the district. 





Average Annual Wages. 




1804. 


1837, 


Itmamdart, 


31 
18 
64 
24 
31 


3 

14 












41 
26 
76 
36 
34 


10 
2 


8 





Alunduls, •••■••> 





Nalbfi •...•.......• 





Peonsi •• •• 





MohUITfrW rrt-r.«TTtT 










A corres- 
ponding in- 
crease in the 
wages of the 
sorvaiits of 
Government 
in the collec- 
tion of tbe 
revenue. 



The decline of manufactures on the other 
hand, may be referred almost to the same 
period. In 1781 the weaving of muslins was 
commenced in Britain, and on the expiration 
of Arkwright*s patent and the introduction of 
mule twist in 1785, this branch of the arts 
soon attained great perfection there. From 
the year 1781 to 1787 the British cotton 
manufactures increased in value from 
£2,000,000 to £7,500,000, and in the year 
1785, 500,000 pieces of muslin were manu- 
factured, which appear to have rivalled the 
common qualities of Indian muslins. From 
this time the foreign trade of Dacca began to 
be affected, and from the heavy duty of 75 
per cent, which was afterwards imposed upon 
its staple, it declined, in proportion as the 
manufactures of Britain increased in value^ 



Decline of 
manufactures. 

Weaving pf 
muslins from 
the introduc- 
tion of tbe 
British manu- 
factures, and 
a duty of 75 
per cent, upon 
ita itaple. 



308 TOPO&RAPHY OF DACCA* 

until at length in the year 1817 it entiifely 
Commercial eeased and the Commercial Residency 

Keffidenry *' 

abolished iu aboIishcd. The general prosperity of the 

place has still more seriously been affected by 
the importation of British yarn and cloths of 
late years. The first great importation of 

gen€«uy7j!* cotton twist into India took place in 1821, but 

J^unuy?brtd. ^* ^^^^ °^' ""'^'^ ^^^8 that it began to be 

seriously felt in this district. Since that date 
it has almost entirely superseded the country 
thread, and has thus deprived all classes^of the 
inhabitants of an employment, which in a 
great measure afforded them the means of 
subsistence. Another serious loss has mwe 
lately been experienced by the inhabitants of 
Decline of the city, in the yearly decreasing demand for 
for embroi. thc cmbroidercd cloths called Kusseidas* In 

1835 Kusseidas, to the amount of 4 lacs of 
rupees, were sold in Calcutta; ia 1836, the 
amount of sales was 2^ lacs ; in 1837 1^ lac ; 
and in 1838 only 1 lac. This decline is attri- 
buted to the changes of dress, that have been 
CauM. introduced by the Sultan of Constautin,ople 
and the Pasha of Egypt, into their armies of 
late years. These cloths which are exported 
to Bussorah and Jidda have hitherto been 
sent to Egypt and Turkey, where it appears 
they were worn as turbans by the soldiers of 
counterba. thcsc countrics. The only articles of com- 

lanpcd bv the 

introducnon mcrcc which have been introduced into th^ 

of the cultiva- ,.^.^t -r^ jii»i_ i_ 

tion of indigo district by Europeaus, and which may be 
considered as supplying the loss of its manu- 
factures, are indigo and safflower. These 
two dyes have been cultivated for foM^lgu 



IKHPOORAPHY OF DACCA; 399 

XBtarkets since the year 1800 ; but the aggregate 
Talue of both products (as raised within th^ 
limits of the district) is not more than 4 lacs 
of rupees a year» or one-eighth of the capital 
employed in the purchase of cloths, : for the 
English market in 1787. 

Agricultural servants and day labourers are AgricuUu. 
paid either in money, or money and food, ^a^'dly' u. 
Tbe servant of a ryott who is employed to p^Jafo'^lhTir 
plough, to cut wood and grass, and to do the ^**®**'- 
ordinary work about a farm, receives diet 
and wages varying in amount from rupee 1 Amount of 
to rupees 1-8 per month, while boys who 
tend cattle are paid at the rate of 4, 8 or 10 
annas according to their age. Reapers usu- 
ally receive one-fifth of the paddee they cut ; 
the rate varies according to the state of the 
crop and the demand for labour, the lowest which iiae. 
being one-seventh and the highest one-fourth *"*'**' 
part. In Mymensing and Tipperah where 
labour is cheaper than in this district, one- 
tenth is the proportion allowed. Women Women 
constitute a large proportion of the persons ^ ^^* ' 
employed in the time of harvest, and they 
generally earn as much as men. An active 
labourer expert in the use of the sickle can 
cut 100 bundles of corn in one day, his share 
of which, according to the Mymensing or 
lowest rate, will yield about 15 seers of paddee 
or two annas. The reapers receive their 
shares of the produce at the close of each 
day's labour, and return to their homes. 
Besides reajHog, the weeding of . lands> the 



310 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 



As well as 
cbildrfn in 
picking saf- 
flower and 
abelliiig betel 
nuts. 



Number of 
Mussulmaun 
families in the 
city employed 
as labourers. 

The more 
wealthy of 
this class trade 
in grain. 



A few as 

servants, but 
the greater 
number as 
labourers. 



The clean- 
ing of grain 
solely per- 
formed by 
females. 



Steam ma- 
chinery estab- 
lished for the 
manufactureof 
mustard oil, 
but shortly 
afterwards 
abandoned. 



BoRtmeo. 



picking of safflower, and the shelling of betel 
nuts, afford employment to a considerable 
number of persons in the country, and the t wo 
former, especially to women and children. 
There are about 3000 Mussulmaun families 
settled in the city, who work as labourers and 
clean grain. Prior to 1787, Dacca was entirely 
dependent on the neighbouring marts for its 
daily supply of grain, but after the famine of 
that year, a number of families who had been 
reduced to poverty, took up their abode in 
the town, and have since supplied the bazars 
with grain. The more wealthy of this class 
or kootees as tliey are called, trade in grain 
and keep boats, which they let out for the 
transportation of this and other bulky articles. 
A few engage as khitmaghurs, masalcheest 
peons and bheestees, but the greater num- 
ber are employed as masons, bricklayers and 
day labourers, in digging wells and erecting 
the mud walls of huts. The cleaning of 
grain is performed solely by the females 
of those families ; two women working the 
dhenkee or pedal and one employed in win- 
nowing, can clean about two maunds of pad- 
dee in a day, which is equal to one and a 
half maund of rice. A few years ago exten- 
sive machinery worked by steam, was estab- 
lished in the city for the manufacture of 
mustard oil and for cleaning grain, but after 
a short time, the projectors found they could 
not compete with the native manufacturers, 
and accordingly the speculation was aban- 
doned. Boatmen form a numerous class in 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 3H 

this part of the country. The Hindoo boat- ^^^Jl^en ' ^r 
men seldom leave the district, but of Dacca ^°"» ^^^^^ ^*»« 

district. 

Mussulmaun dhandees, a great number are j^,^ ^„, 
employed in the inland navigation of the «jjJy""^S""'^** 
country, and not a few in vessels trading ***« country 
between Calcutta, Mauritius, Penang, &c. 
The rates of wages in the district vary, ac- 
cording to the season of the year, being 
highest in the time of harvest and during the 
great fairs in the vicinity. Boat hire is, how- ^®*' ^»r«' 
ever, considerably cheaper here than in the 
western districts. There are about 300 street street coolies. 
coolies in the city, who belong to the districts 
of Piimeah and Bhagulpore. This class of 
people have been settled here for about 150 
years ; they live in sets, each consisting about Live in sets 
twenty persons under the orders of a sirdar, 
who regulates their work, and divides their 
earnings among them at the end of the month. 



under a sirdar. 



Few of the class of Artisans work by the Artissns. 
day. Formerly the weavers manufactured Formerly 

X J '^ • weavers work. 

mushns on their own account, and it is men- ed on their 

own account. 

tioned by Mr. Bolts, that in the time of 
Alverdi Khan, it was no uncommon occur- 
rence for a weaver, to bring at one time as 
many as 800 pieces of muslins to a merchant. 
In the present day they work by contract, 
receiving thread and an advance of irLoney 
from the merchants or their agents the Py- 
kars. The average amount of wages of Arersge 
the few that work by the day or month, is Sonth.**'^ ''^ 
estimated at rupees 2-8 per month, exclusive 
of contingent WQfk done after working hours, 



SIS TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

aB the reeling off and . the warping of thread 
which may amount to 10 annas more^ A 
weaver's apprentice of 10 or 12 years of age, 
gets 4 annas a month after hfi has been two 
years in the business, and the amount gene* 
rally increases every year, until he receives 
12 annas the last year of his servitude. The 
spinning of thread yields but a small profit 
in the present day. The most indefatigable 
spinners, supposing that they work every dayir 
c9.nnot mimufacture more than 2 sicca weight 
(360 grains) or 14400 yards of the finest thread 
per year, which at the rate of 8 rupees pec 
sicca weight gives only 16 rupees or 32 shil- 
lings. This, which is more than twelve ban* 
dred times the value of the raw materia^ 
yields but the small sum of one penny a day; 
Wages of The work of embroidery being practised only 

embroiderers. • i i x ^i. • j* 

as an occasional employment, the earnings of 
those engaged in it cannot easily be ascer- 
tained. It is calculated by the merchants 
that one-fifth of the value of the whole stock 
of Kusseidas is expended upon their em- 
broidery, exclusive of the materials ; according 
to which calculation, rupees 47,500 have beea 
annually expended during the last four years 
on this account. This money is entirely laid 
out in the city, and the amount earned by 
each of the Mussulmaun women supposed to 
be employed in it, is not more therefore than 6 
rupees per year. The work is carried on 
through the medium of male and female 
agents, called Qostagurs and Oostanees, who 
receive the cloths stamped, and silk and 



T0POGRAPHY OP DACCA. 313 

money from the merchants, to Whom they are 
responsible for the completion of the work. 
The Cheepegurs or stampers of these cloths, Pay of the 
are paid according to the number of cloths 
they prepare. The finer kinds of needle work 
executed by Ruffogurs, Chukendose and Zur- 
dose, are done by contract. Nurdeahs and other 
workmen employed in marking and folding 
cloths, and in packing them, are paid at the 
average rate of 2 annas per day. Washer- 
men are paid according to the length and 
quality of the cloths they bleach, the rate CoRt of 

, n • bleaching. 

varying from 4 to 14 rupees per 100 pieces. 
The few washermen that are to be found in 
the villages, with the exception of the manu- 
facturing Aurungs, are paid in money and 
grain. There are three sets of workmen em- 
ployed in making shell bracelets. Those that Makers of 
clean and 4>reak off the points of the shells, are lets. 
paid at the rate of one rupee for 420 -shells, Their wages, 
and can earn between three and four rupees 
per month : the sawyers of the shells receive 
from two to four rupees per 100 shells, and 
the workmen employed in polishing, carving, 
&c. are paid by contract. 

« 

The wages oi domestic servants have risen Wages of 

. - _ - ... , , ^ _ domestic ser- 

considerably within the last forty years. In vauts. 
1808 bearers at the Commercial Factory were 
paid rupees 2-4 per month, which was then 
considered a high rate ; they now receive 
from rupees 3 to rupees 3-8. When employed 
by the natives to carry a chattah, they are paid 
at the rate of rupees 2-8. A Bhandaree or 

2 Q 



L _ . 



314 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

servant in a Hindoo family, who makes pur« 
chases in the bazar, cleans cooking utensils, 
prepares pan and the hookah, and carries 
water from the river, receives from one to two 
rupees per month, besides his food, and one or 
two pieces of cloth in the year. In Mussul* 
maun families, females are generally employ^ 
ed as cooks : they receive from ten annas to 
one rupee per month, besides diet, pan, 
tobacco and cloths. Khitmaghars in native 
families receive from one to two rupees per 
month. Barbers are paid in grain in the 
country, and in the town at the rate of four 
rupees per year. 

Poor dirid. Condition of the poor and of slaws. — ^Thc poor 
ciasMs. may be divided into three classes ; 1st, persons 

out of employment and unable to work cm 
account of sickness: 2d, destitute widows 
and children : 3d, persons, who from physical 
infirmities or disease, as the lame, blind and 
lepers, are incapacitated from earning a 

lit cUu. livelihood. The first class consists chiefly of 
servants, boatmen and of the various artisans 
in the town. When sick and unable to work, 
they usually borrow money by pawning 
silver ornaments, articles of dress or copper 
and brass utensils. Almost every person 
engaged in business in the town is a pawn- 
broker. The rate of interest varies from 3|* to 
6 per cent, per month. In 1770, the common 
rate was rupees 5-2 per cent, per month, bat 
it afterwards fell to rupees 3-8. At present 
in cases where considerable sums are bocrow-i 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 316 

edrthe interest is reguls^ted by the orders of 
Government, so far as relates to the rate ex- 
hibited in the bond ; but the party borrowing 
invariably pays a larger sum than that sub- 
seribed to. The eugagement is made and 
agreed to in the presence of witnesses, and 
the money is bonA fide paid to the borrower. 
The deed being given in due course, the 
witnesses retire and the borrower immediate- 
ly restores to the lender, the sum that has 
privately been agreed on. There is no asso- 
ciation among any of the working classes 
for mutual relief in times of sickness and 
distress. They assemble to adjust disputes, to 
settle the rate of wages and to subscribe for 
poojahs, but the establishment of a fund to 
afford relief to themselves and families when 
out of employment, is quite unknown to them. 
Many of them are often in great distress, and 
notwithstanding the cheapness of provisions, 
they and their families are frequently reduced 
to one meal a day. Much distress and pover- 
ty are also occasioned by the frequent fires in 
the town. They generally occur in the cold 
season, and on an average there are between 
three and four hundred huts burned to the 
ground every year. Most of the inhabitants 
are prepared for their occurrence, and have 
their money and more valuable articles either 
buried in the floors of their huts, or deposited 
in chests mounted upon wheels and ready 
for withdrawal on the alarm of fire being 
given ; but notwithstanding these precautions, 
a good . deal of property is stden on the»e 



816 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

occasions, and the Ios& sustained in this way 
and the expense of rebuilding, entail there- 
fore, no inconsiderable distress on the poorer 

2d ciasf. classes. The second class of poor persons or 
destitute widows and orphans, earn a liveli- 
hood in the country ; the former, by spinning, 
weeding and reaping, and the latter, by tend- 
ing cattle, picking safflower, &c. ; in the 
town, widows usually find employment in the 
castes to which their husbands belonged. 
The weavers employ them to twist the border 
threads of Kusseida cloths, and to make 
goonchas, or waist strings : the shell cutters 
to clean shells, and mark out beads for sepoy's 
necklaces : and the iron smiths to colour tin 
plates and decorate idols. Many of them are 
admitted into Hindoo families as cooks, 
while others eke out a subsistence by selling 
vegetables and fruits, which they collect in 
the jungles and jheels. Among the Mussul- 
mauns, widows are employed to husk grain 
and grind wheat. Many of them also sup- 
ply families with river water which they car- 
ry in jars, while others employ their time in 
embroidering Kusseidas, and making caps 
and dresses for children, or in keeping stalls 
in the choke and other bazars, where they 

3d class, sell ginger, garlic, oil cake, &c. The third 
class comprising the lame, blind and diseased, 
of which lepers form a large proportion, find 
a subsistence by begging in the streets. They 
are all truly pitiable and deserving * objects 
of charity. In the time of the Moghul Ckn 
vemment. a provision was made firom« the 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 317 

KhaUa, or crown lands, for the support of this 
class of poor people, and was continued until 
very lately under the title of " Lungur Kha- 
na." Among the items of annual expendi- 
ture in the Dacca district, as settled by Mr. 
Sykes and the native ministers at Moorshe- 
dabad in 1769, we meet with the following 
under the head of charity. 

1. Alio wance to poor people, . . Hs. 2823 14 

2. Hospital charges and black 

doctor, with medicines to 
attend the poor sickly 
people, 1518 1.0 

3. Allowance also to the lame 

and blind, 3600 Q 

4. Daily allowance to sundry 

people, to the amount of 
several hundreds, who 
have ever been kept up 
and supported by orders 
of His Majesty and the 
Njiwaub,.-.. 448 

Total Rs. 8390 8 



Tennant, Mill and other writers have assert-* Hospitals for 
ed, that there was no such establishment as buXTprevu 
an Hospital for the poor, until the time the c^ompany't 
Company acquired the country. This, there ^"^^' 
can be no doubt, is a mistake. Asylums for 
the poor and sick, were established in diflfer- 
ent parta of the country, as early as the reign 
of Saltan Ala Addeen Hussein Sha, about the 



the 



I 



■ m^' -mm 



318 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

close. of the 15th century, and subsequently it 
vras ordered by Jehangire, that '' Hospitals be 
erected in all the great cities throughout the 
empire, and the charges for attendance and 
medicines to be defrayed from the Khalsa ;''* 
and also ^* in every city as well in Jagbeer 
as in Khalsa lands, refectories were ordered 
to be established according to the size of the 
place, where victuals were daily prepared for 
the support of . the poor inhabitants and for 
the refreshment of travellers."t The Dacca 
Hospital and Alms house were, no doubt, 
established in obedience to the above orders, 
The bene, and in justice to the Moghul Government, it 

▼olence of the , , -■ ■ ^ i /» -r* 

Mof^ui Go. must be observed, that the sum of Us. 8300«6 
its poor. which they thus expended in charity, is con* 

siderably more (considering the greater 
cheapness of provisions in those times) thou 
the sum bestowed by Government on the 
several charitable establishments of the city, 
in the present day. Besides this public allow- 
Private inh- aucc, coUectious wcrc made at the Hossainee 
Delaun during the Mohurrum, and at the 
Jumma Musjhid on the occasion of the Ead 
for the relief of the poor, but these contribu- 
tions though they are still made, have greatly 
declined since the spread of the Ferazee 
tenets, and can now be scarcely considered a 
source of public charity. The Mussuimaua i^* 
habitants of the city distribute their alms, coa- 
sisting of cooked rice, on Thursdays, while the 
Hindoos give theirs on Sundays and on the 

• lOth Regulation of Jchuigire, see Gladwin's History of HindoosUn. 
t GUdvriii*8.Lifeof Jehangire. 



TOPOGRAPHY OJf DACCA. 319 

12th day of the Moon. At the Akharas and Food given 
houses of many of the more wealthy inhabit oTIL^otT^ 
tants, victuals are served out to the poor hawunu?" 
every day. Through the benevolent exertions 
of the Revd. Mr. Shepherd, a charitable ^ cbarita. 
Fund has been established in the town, and I"^* ^??,.' V!: 
has been in operation for upwards of four ^y ^^« ^"F*'- 

* * pean portion 

years. It is entirely supported by the con- of the station. 
tributions of the Europeans at the station, 
and distributes between 80 and 100 Rupees 
a month to the poor of this class. 

Slavery prevails to a greater extent here slavery more 
than in the Western districts of Bengal, a in the Western 
circumstance which is perhaps attributable Benga". 
to the frequent occurrence of destitution and 
distress, occasioned by the sudden inunda- 
tions to which this part of the country 
is liable. Male slaves are distinguished by 
the name of Bhandaree by the Hindoos, and Hindoo and 
by that of Gholam among the Mussulmauns ; namenror^maie 
and female slaves are called Dassee by the tkvea! "* ^ 
former, and Bhandee by the latter. Almost me.t^n'' mosu 
all the female domestics in Hindoo and Mus- '^•^'^**- 
sulmaun families are slaves. In MussuU 
maun houses they act as cooks, but among 
the Hindoos they are never employed in this 
capacity, the only articles of diet they are 
allowed to prepare^ being choorah, kooee, &c. 
Male slaves are employed as agricultural la- Male* em. 
bourers, and do the various kind of work about &^ri2"' 
a farm, as ploughing, weeding, reaping, fish- ^"'^*"- 
ing, cutting wood and grass, &c. or they act 
as domestic servants in Hindoo families, car<< 



320 TOPOGHAPHY OF DACCA* 

rying water from the river, preparing the 
hookah and pan, and cleaning cooking uten- 
sils. A Bhandaree or Gholam is frequently 
the husband of six or eight female slaves in 
the neighbourhood, but most of his marriages 
are fictitious and are got up by the proprie- 
tors of the female slaves to screen their own 
intercourse with them. The marriage of a 
slave is conducted in the same way as that of 
a poor ryott. The expense is defrayed by 
the owner of the serf, but in the fictitious 
marriages, the proprietors of the female slaves 
pay the costs of the ceremony, and also bestow 
Slaves gene- a Small sum ou the bridegroom. In a maio- 

rally treated ^ i • j 

kindly by iheir rity of iustauccs, slavcs are treated with kind- 
owners, 1 -I • 1 1 . fXII 

ness and leniency by their masters. The 
work exacted from them is seldom oppressive, 
and generally, is even less than a hired ser- 
vant would be required to perform. In most 
cases they partake of the diet used by the 
family, and are allowed the common luxuries 
of betel nut and tobacco. Many of those born 
in bondage in the houses of the wealthier 
classes, are taught to read and write along 
SeiiiiiRof with the children of the family. The sale of 

tbem not so • i • ^ *▲ ■ 

common at pcrsous lu slavery IS not so common now, it is 
presemasfor. alleged, as it was in former times, although it 
is admitted, that it is still carried on to a con- 
siderable extent. Formerly slaves were sold 
along with landed property, and the transfer 
was generally ratified by separate deeds of 
Value of a salc. The maximum value of a male slave 
uaieshve. ^ ^^ the present day, is estimated at rupees 150, 

and that of a female one at rupees 100. The 



.TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 321 

latter are always sold at an early age and 
avowedly to attend the daughters of the pur- 
chasers. Many of them, however, are in- 
famously disposed of to prostitutes in the 
town. Most of the slaves in this part of the 

*^ Protection 

country, are aware of the protection held out ^^w out to 

^ ^ them by Go- 

to them by Government, and instances fre- vemment. 

quently occur of individuals claiming it from 
the Magistrates. Many of them who have 
been thus liberated are scattered over the 
country, and in several villages in the district 
of Mymensing have formed small communi- 
ties which serve as rallying points or places 
of refuge for those who have obtained their 
freedom or who choose to desert their mas- 
ters. Slaves in general are distinguished by suves di«- 
the appellation of **Sing," but those who jLe'tmf o^/ 
can read and write after their liberation, "r.i"'^l»"* 

' alter manu- 

assume the rank of Kayets. Many slaves in ^^ ^^^^"^^J ^•^ 
the district work for only a certain number of 
months or days in the year, and are allowed 
wages for the rest of their labour. It is men- 
tioned in the records of the district for the 
year 1777, that the slaves of the Zemindar of 
Toroff in Mymensing, rose in a body and 
murdered the whole of the family. 



2 R 



322 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Medical Topography — Diseases — Accidents — 
Hospitals — Diseases of lower Animals. 

The district From the account of the physical aspect 

favoruMe to /•■it«ii 

the production and climate of the district that has been 
given in the first Chapter, it will be seen 
that this part of the country presents in its 
soil, vegetation, temperature and moisture, 
the different features that characterize situ- 
ations most fertile in the production of mala- 
ria. We find accordingly, that this poison 
is here most abundantly formed, and of all 
the known agents of disease it is one that 
exerts the widest influence on the health of 
Particular ^^^ populatiou. Tlic couutry generally may 

localities still ^e Said to abound with malaria, but there 

more so. ' 

are certain localities more favorable to its 
development than others, and in order there* 
fore to convey an accurate idea of these 
places, and of the various circumstances under 
which this, poison is generated, it will be 
necessary to advert to the difference of soil 
and physical features that the district pre- 
Appearnnce scnts, or briefly to review it under the four 

of the coontry /• n • 

divided into lOliOWing aSpCCtS, VIZ. 

four divisions. 

1 . The low alluvial tract of country that 
is inundated throughout its whole extent of 
surface. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 323 

2. The artificially elevated alluvial spots 
intersected by creeks and tanks and only 
partially inundated. 

3. The diluvial or kunkar tract intersect, 
ed by creeks and morasses and partially 
inundated. 

4. The city. 

The first tract, including the different churs First divi- 
or islands in the channels of the large rivers, "®"' 
is the most extensive of the whole. It com- 
prizes a large proportion of the land in both 
divisions of the district, but the greater part 
is comprehended under the southern one to 
the west of the Boorigonga where it extends 
in this direction to the Ganges, a distance of 
40 miles. This aspect presents a slight slope 
from the banks of the different rivers by 
which it is intersected, down to its central 
parts, which constitute the lowest levels of 
the country. Many of these places are from 
8 to 14 feet in depth in the rains, and all of 
them are partially filled with water, through- 
out the greater part of the year. Of this 
description is the Churan or Ariel morass in 
the pergunnah of Bickrampore. This jheel, 
which is the largest in the district, is about 
15 miles in circumference, and contains water 
to a considerable depth, even in the driest 
seasons : it is full of grass and reed jungle, 
and swarms with water fowl, alligators, fish 
and insects. The Amoun crop of rice, which 



T1S10I18. 



324 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

is reaped in October and November is chiefly 
cultivated around this morass and throughout 
this tract generally. The villages are built 
upon artificially raised mounds of earth, 
scattered over the surface of this tract, and 
forming in the season of inundation so many 
islands, surrounded by water of a consider- 
able depth. 

.Second d»- The second aspect presents artificially ele- 
vated spots of ground, which have been the 
sites of towns and villages from an early 
period in the history of the district. These 
places, as Rampal in Bickrampore, abd Pai- 
nam in Sunergong, are entirely of alluvial 
soil, and appear to have originally consisted 
of separate mounds, like those of the first 
tract, but from increase of population, they 
have now become so numerous and approxi- 
mated, as to form artificially raised portions 
of country of considerable extent. They are 
intersected by creeks and tanks, varying 
from 10 to 20 feet in depth, and are of various 
degrees of breadth, being in some places con- 
tracted to narrow ditches, and in others ex- 
panding out into wide terradams. For several 
months in the year, these creeks are full of 
water, and are affected by the tides, during 
which time they alternately admit of the 
passage of small boats, and present shallow 
channels with muddy slimy banks. The 
elevated ground above is covered with huts 
and gardens, interspersed with dense thickets 
of bamboos, mangoe, betelnut, cocoanut and 



sion. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 325 

▼arious trees, whose luxuriant foliage, while 
it excludes the sun's rays, at the same time 
intercepts the ascent of vapours and miasma 
from the creeks beneath, thus constituting a 
cool, but also a damp and unhealthy shade. 

The third or diluvial tract consists of ferru- Third Hiw. 
ginous and calcareous kunkar soil, covered 
with a superficial stratum of vegetable mould. 
It is intersected by numerous creeks that 
expand out into extensive morasses, in its 
central parts. The beds of these lower levels 
consist chiefly of stiff clay, mixed with more 
or less alluvitil deposit, according to their 
proximity to the inundating rivers, and are 
mostly covered with rank grass jungle. The 
elevated kunkar soil is clad with brushwood 
jungle, and in the interior with clumps of 
lofty forest trees. From the aborbent pro- 
perty of the argillaceous soil, this tract retains 
its moisture for a longer time than the alluvial 
lands, and is the site of heavy fogs on the 
cessation of the rains, and during the cold 
season. 

The city and suburbs present an aspect, ^be fourth 
which may be said to be composed of all ^y^^ionof 
the preceding ones. On the east there is 
an extensive alluvial plain, and on the north 
and north west a tract of dense tree and 
brushwood jungle, intersected by the beds 
of creeks and morasses which are full of 
water during the rains, forming a connection 
between the rivers Borigonga and Luckia, 



■«M>». 



326 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

by which the town is at this season com- 
pletely insulated. The red.kunkar soil, upon 
which the city is biiilt, is covered towards 
the river with alluvial earth; but to the 
north in the direction of the cantonments, it 
is exposed on the surface. A branch of the 
Dullye Creek intersects the city, and sends 
off numerous branches that ramify in dif- 
ferent directions and ultimately join the 
creeks in the environs. During the rains, 
this nullah is of considerable breadth and 
depth, and expands out in the centre of the 
town into a large bason or lake ; but in the 
dry season, it is reduced to a canal of not 
more than 15 feet in width, and is navigable 
by small boats only at full tide. The interi-* 
or of the town abounds with pits, from which 
earth has been dug to build the sites and 
walls of neighbouring huts. Most of these 
excavations are of a depth, varying from 15 
to 30 feet and have an area of 50 to 500 feet 
in extent ; many of tliem have been convert- 
ed into canals which communicate with the 
central branch of the Dullye Creek, but by 
far the greater number of them are isolated 
pits, serving as depositaries for all the refuse 
animal and vegetable matters and filth of the 
nei6:hbourhood. A few of them contain water 
throughout the year, but the greater number 
are only partially filled from April to Decern-^ 
ber, during which time they become prolifix; 
sources of malaria. The majority of the 
Mussulmaun inhabitants bury their dead in 
the interior of the town, in the immediate 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 327 

vicinity of, or within the precincts of their 
own dwellings. The graves are seldom more 
than 4^ feet deep, and after a short time the 
Ferazees, who never raise any mound to mark 
the place of interment, generally build huts 
over them. The few Mussulmaun cemeteries 
of the place are situated in the jungle to the 
west of the city. Here the graves are dug 
of the depth of about 6 or 8 feet, those among 
the poorer classes, who cannot afford the 
expense of a coffin, use a frame work of 
bamboos which they lay across the body, but 
notwithstanding this precaution, bodies are 
often disinterred by jackals. The Hindoos 
burn their dead in the vicinity of the town, 
but among the poorer classes no funeral pile 
is erected, and the corpse is thrown into the 
river. 

The rivers, that inundate the low lands of Causes of 
all these tracts, are branches of the Berham- 
pooter, Megna and Ganges. They begin to 
overflow the lowest levels of the country in 
May, but it frequently happens that for some 
weeks before this time, these sites are par- 
tially filled, and indeed many of them may 
be said to be in a state of transition from 
dryness to humidity throughout the greater 
part of the year. This is more especially the 
case when there is a heavy fall of rain early 
in the season, or when strong southerly winds 
occur to retard the current of the rivers, and 
thus cause a reflux into the interior parts, 
or prevent the egress of the water already 



328 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

lodged there. But, whatever may have been 
the previous fall of rain at this season, the 
central parts of the first tract are full about 
the middle of June, and generally by the 
10th July, the whole extent of country sub- 
ject to inundation, (and estimated at 8-lOths 
of the area of the district) is covered with water 
to a depth varying from 2 to 14 feet. Vege- 
tation on land and water now becomes rank 
and luxuriant in the extreme, and gives to the 
whole country the appearance of one exten- 
sive verdant field. As the inundation rise6» 
the rice plant shoots up above the water with 
singular celerity ; while the slender and flexile 
Lotus plant, the Cyamus and the Singhara* 
which are no less rapid in their growth, 
throw out their broad leaves, and richly co- 
lored blossoms ; forming with the Pana and 
other aquatic plants, a close carpet of vegeta- 
tion upon the surface of the marshes, the 
abode of myriads of insects and the resort 
of the graceful lacana and a variety of the 
feathered tribe. The country continues in 
this state of submersion, and with little per- 
ceptible variation in the height of the water 
until the end of September. The inundation 
now begins to subside, and as the rivers fall, 
the central parts of the country pour out their 
contents, the water of the rice lands being 
generally clear and limpid, while that of the 
morasses is of a dark hue. This is. more 
particularly the case in the northern division 
of the district, where the creeks, especially 
those in the vicinity of the town, discharge 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 329 

water which resembles a strong infusioD of 
tea in color ; and which is perhaps attribute 
able to the chemical agency of the iron in 
the soil upon the vegetable^ astringent sub- 
stances in the j heels. Sickness now begins 
to prevail, especially in the form of bowd 
complaints, which the natives in the city 
universally ascribe to this contamination of 
the Borigonga water. As the draining of 
the country proceeds, the water flows more 
scantily, but of a darker hue, until at length, 
the rice plant and aquatic weeds, forming a 
saturated mass and the latter emitting a most 
offensive odour, fall to the ground and give 
rise ,to malaria, and fever. Malaria is most 
abundantly evolved from the middle of Sep- 
tember to the end of November ; the season 
in which the elements of decomposition or 
the proportions of water and dead vegetable 
matter, and a certain degree of temperature 
appear to be in the most favorable adaptation 
for the production of this agent. With the 
soil now saturated with moisture and covered 
with a thick layer of decaying vegetable 
matter, there occurs at this time, a state of 
atmospheric quiescence which appears greatly 
to contribute to the elaboration of marsh 
miasma. :For sometime preceding and fol- 
lowing the gale or stormy weather that usually 
occurs on the .change of the monsoon, the 
wind becomes light and variable, calms are 
more frequent than at any other season of 
the year, and the range of temperature begins 
to increase, paring the day, the sky is gene- 

1 s 



HnvMH 



Snnergoiift 



330 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

rallf unclouded, the heat is powerful and 
evaporation proceeds with activity ; while the 
nights from the condensation of the vapours 
w^ich now descend in the form of copious 
dew, become damp and chilly and consti- 
tute the time of all others in which malaria 
acts with the. greatest power and energy. 

Of the four tracts or aspects into which the 
and Bhowai district has been divided, the second and 

coniidered the 

ib^li "h^?*" third are the most unhealthy ; and Sunergong 
trier. and Bhowai in particular are the sites, where 

diseases originating from malaria^ occur in 
their worst forms. The inhabitants of th^e 
places may be said to live in a state of per- 
petual fever. Ague in all its shapes prevails 
throughout the year, and its various sequels 
of enlargement of the spleen and chronic 
affections of the abdominal viscera, are more 
common here than in any other part of the 
district. The same is the case in the betel* 
nut tree or areca groves on the eastern bank 
of the Megna, in the Tipperah district, which 
are still more unhealthy than Sunergong or 
Bhowai. Here the trees are planted so close- 
ly together, that their thick foliage above, 
forms a covert through which the sun's rays 
never penetrate to the ground: the soil 
throughout these extensive tracts is partially 
overflowed at spring tides during half the 
year, and constitutes a fertile source of mala- 
ria, which in this place is concentrated in its 
worst forms. The natives acclimated to this 
gloomy region, indicate too plainly by their 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DA€CA. 331 

sallow cadaverous looks, tumid bodies and 
shrunk emaciated limbs, th« noxious atmos^ 
phere they breathe and as may be inferred 
they soon fall victims to the poison of malaria. 

• 

Rice lands are considered particularly un- Rjce lands 

healthy in some countries as in Russia, where unhealthy. 
the cultivation of this grain is prohibited in 
consequence. The diseases arising from this 
source occur chiefly, in the vicinity of the 
ariel or churan morass where the country is 
low and the crop of Amoun rice lies long in a 
wet state, on the subsidence of the inundation. 
They are most prevalent in October and No- 
vember, during which time a hot vapour rises 
from these fields, and produces, the natives 
say, fever and ophthalmia. The breaking up 
of waste and jungle lands, is perhaps more 
frequently productive of disease, than the 
cultivation of rice. Cassan mentions several 
cases of malignant fever produced by the 
clearing of pasture lands in the West Indies, 
and an instance lately occurred to Mr. Lamb, 
which shews the danger of a somewhat simi- 
lar occupation. In January 1836 he settled 
30 families of ryotts, on one of his estates in 
this neighbourhood, to clear a village that had 
for sometime been deserted, and was now 
overgrown with jungle, but before the end of 
April, 15 persons died of fever and cholera, 
and he was obliged in consequence to aban- 
don the place. The steeping of sunn and The vicipi- 

* , ty of 8unn and 

pat in ponds in the vicinity of villages, patpondgfrc- 

- t ^ quenily the 

appears to be not unfrequently a cause of cauieoffever. 



332 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA^ 

fever ; and it is only a few months ago, that 
I had an opportunity of seeing in the person 
of an European gentleman, who had been 
residing in a tent, pitched near pits of this 
kind, a case of insidious remittent fever, 
attended with hepatic congestion, which therje 
can be no doubt arose from this cause. Dur- 
ing the process of the maceration of hemp, 
the most disagreeable exhalations are emitted, 
and it may be mentioned, that on account of 
its supposed unwholesomeness, the Neapolitan 
Government oblige all the growers of this 
article in the vicinity of Naples to steep the 
plant in a small lake, assigned for this purpose 
at some distance from the city. The steeping 
of indigo, which is almost equally offensive 
as that of sunn, is not, however, as far as I 
am aware, considered unhealthy, nor in any 
way injurious to those engaged in it. The 
most healthy spots in the district are churs 
and the banks of rivers, and their comparative 
immunity from malaria, is no doubt attri- 
butable to the currents of air that sweep the 
channels of the rivers, and thus prevent its 
lodgment in the neighbourhood. 

The me of Ncxt to malaria, the use of stagnant water 

ttagnant water i • i • i i . /% 

M drink fre- as drink, IS perhaps the most frequent source 
ofXei^?^ of disease in this district. All the inhabi- 
tants who happen to reside at a distance from 
a running stream, invariably use jheel or 
morass water for drinking and cooking, 
Weill. Wells are seldom met with except in the 
town. In its northern part and subiurba 



Ti^OGRAPHY OF DACCA. 333 

irhere the kunkar soil is not covered with 
alluvial earth, water is found at a depth vary- 
ing from 18 to 22 feet, and is of a good 
quality ; but on the southern side of the creek 
that flows through the town, well water is 
generally bad and nauseous, and appears to 
be impregnated with the putrescent animal 
and vegetable matter that oozes through the 
loose alluvial soil, from the numerous sinks in 
the vicinity. None of the inhabitants use 
water from wells in this part of the town, 
except during the rains, at which season their 
level is afiected by the river, while the free 
flow of water through the creek carries ofi* 
a considerable portion of the impurities from 
the interior of the town. Most of the Euro- 
pean inhabitants and many of the wealthier 
natives have been in the habit of using the yy^^ ^^^^^ 
Luckia water for many years past. The u[Jd*J^"fiu! 
natives attribute diarrhceas, enlargements of 'op«*'»8 and 

^ many of the 

the spleen and elephantiasis to the use of wealthier na- 
Stagnant morass water, and it would certain- Di^ea^ea at 
ly seem to be the case that these diseases are Jr*^«t«d to 

•^ the ute of 

most prevalent, in situations where this kind 8t»8:»»nt mo. 

*- , rasa water, 

of water is used as drink, but whether they «><> *<> <>'>>•' 

•^ general 

Stand in the relation of cause and efiect, it is cauaea. 
not so easy to determine. The other more 
general causes of disease are new rice, crude 
vegetables, and the want of proper clothing 
and bedding in the cold season. The Aoos 
or summer crop of rice, which is reaped at 
the commencement of the rains, is frequently 
used by the poorer classes before it is dry, 
in which state it Ib very indigestible, and acts 



334 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

as the exciting or predisponent cause of vari- 
ous diseases of the stomach and bowels. The 
different crude vegetables, as several species 
of the arum, jungle and jheel plants that are 
sold in the bazars at this season, and also 
different kinds of fish as the Boallee, produce 
bowel complaints, and appear to give rise to 
intestinal worms, which are here particularly 
prevalent. Few of the poorer classes provide 
themselves with clothing or coverings for pro- 
tection against the damp cold of the winter 
months. Blankets and cotton stuffed quilts 
are used only by the richer natives ; the only 
covering that a poor person possesses is a 
rug of old cloths and rags patched together, 
and this with a greasy pillow case, stuffed 
with simool cotton and a mat or litter of rice 
straw, constitutes the whole of his bedding. 

Epidemics. Of the prevalence of epidemics in this part 
of the country, I have met with only two 
notices in the records of the district. In the 
One in 1781. year 1781, ''a malignant distemper," the 
nature of which, however, is not described, is 
mentioned as having carried off a number of 
the inhabitants of Calcutta, and in the month 
of September Mr. Lindsay, the Magistrate of 
Sylhet, writes, ^*it is now raging with the 
greatest fury at Sylhet. Many of the Zemin^- 
dars and Naibs having fallen victims to it^ 
and the others have in a body deserted the 

>797. town." In the year 1797 the Collector in 
one of his reports alludes to the sickness and 
mortality in a pergunnah of Backergunge^ 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 335 

and states, *' in one house, that of a grain 
dealer, 17 lives have been lost in eleven days, 
and from the accounts I have received, I 
consider that from four to five hundred lives 
have been sacrificed to this plague, which has 
not yet been subdued." 

The epidemic cholera, of which the pre- ch^fero "tn 
ceding were in all probability instances, ^®J7:'"** 

^ mt J ^ which hai con- 

broke out in 1817, simultaneously in this dis- ^*""*^ *® "m- 

•' pear at uncei- 

trict, Jessore and Nattore ; it first appeared t*»« iuiervau 
here in the pergunnah of Sonergong, but of 
the extent of its ravages at this or any sub- 
sequent period I have not been able to collect 
any correct information. As in all other 
parts of the country, this scourge continues 
to appear at uncertain intervals, though of 
late years, its visitation have been less fre- 
quent and in most instances the disease has 
been of a somewhat milder character, than 
formerly. The total number of cases admit- 
ted into the Military Hospital of the Regiment 
of Native Infantry, including a detachment 
o£ about 30 Artillery men, has been only 28 
between the years 1828 and 1837. In 1825, 
427 persons died from it in the city. 

Intermittent fever is particularly common i„ee,„it. 
in this part of the country, especially about *•"' ^•''•'• 
the commencement, and on the cessation of 
the rains, and when once induced it has a 
tendency to return at the changes of the moon. 
Remittent fever also prevails in September and 
October, and continues to occur throughout f«v«r. 



336 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

the cold season, when it frequently assumes 
a low congestive type and is often fatal. 

Elephant!- Ncxt to Intermittent and remittent fevers, 
choceie. the most prevalent endemic diseases are 
elephantiasis and bronchocele. The former 
is common here, but particularly about the 
city, and in the vicinity of the ariel morass, 
in Bickrampore. The disease appears in 
different parts of the body as the lower extre- 
mities, scrotum, and occasionally in the arms : 
the fever attending it, (called Saujhar) is 
usually ushered in with strong rigors suc- 
ceeded by the hot fit, which lasts for several 
days, and in a majority of cases it is accom* 
panied with bilious vomiting. It is apt to 
recur at the changes of the moon and gene- 
rally with each successive attack, the swelling 
increases, as the fever abates in intensity 
and duration. 

Bronchocele. Bronchocelc prevails in the northern divi- 
sion of the district, especially on the banks of 
the Luckia and Megna, and along the Jenai, 
in the district of Mymensing, but it also oc- 
curs in Bickrampore and Rajanaghur, in the 
Supposed southern division. Out of 106 villages be^ 
longing to two thanahs in this part of 'the 
country both bronchocele and elephantiasis 
were met with in 72 villages belonging to the 
northern division, and in 27 in the Bickram- 
pore and Rajanaghur, lying to the south of the 
Dellaserry and Megna. Bronchocele arises 
perhaps from the water of the Berhampooter 



cause of the 
disease. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 337 

Bowing oTor beds of calcareous kunkar as in 
the channels of the Banar and Luckia, though 
judging from the nature of the localities in 
which the disease is most frequently met 
with, it would seem to be the effect of mala-* 
rious agency, rather than of this cause. In a 
majority of instances the villages, in which it 
most frequently occurs, are at some distance 
from running streams, where the inhabitants 
make use of stagnant water for drink and 
are places surrounded with fertile sources of 
malaria. The opinion that bronchopele is of 
miasmatic origin, is now pretty generally 
entertained in Europe, and I may mention a 
case that lately fell under my own observa* 
tioD, and which in a great measure tends to 
confirm it. The case was that of a family of 
three persons, of whom one had bronchocele 
and another elephantiasis. The house in 
which they resided was situated in the centre 
of the town, within a few yards of a dirty tank 
into which a large sewer emptied itself, and 
close to a deep and open drain which was 
choked up with weeds and rubbish. This 
family used rain water for drink and in cook- 
ing, and had been in the habit of doing so for 
many years. Of a family consisting of eight 
individuals that took up their abode in this 
house, and lived with the above persons, four 
were attacked with bronchocele between the 
months of September and January. The 
patients were females, of different ages, vary- 
ing from six to twenty-five years, and prior to 
this, had nev^r shewn the sligbtest indication 

2 T 



338 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

nor experienced any symptom of the disease. 
The swelling attacked the whole of the gland 
except in one case where it was confined to 
one of its lobes. A cure was effected in all 
of them by means of the hydriodate of potash, 
but it was not until some time after they had 
left the house that the disease entirely dis- 
appeared. The natives attribute the preva- 
lence of goitre here to the use of lime juice, 
an article which the inhabitants of Suner^ 
gong and Bickrampore are partial to in their 
cookery. 

Spleen. Enlargement of the spleen is the most com- 

mon chronic visceral disease in this district, 
and is attributed by the natives to stagnant 
marsh water used as drink. It is usually 
preceded by intermittent fever in which the 
cold stage is severe, though in many cases the 
fever is slight, while in others, the dis^tse 
comes on in a slow insidious manner, without 
attracting the attention of the patient or being 
attended with any constitutional disturbance^ 
beyond the ordinary symptoms of dyspepsia. 
Children appear to be more subject to it than 
adults. In many of (hem it is attended with 
intestinal worms and in a considerable pro- 
portion of cases with dysentery. Sloughing 
of the lips and cheeks is a frequent accompa- 
niment of the disease in young subjects, and is 
attended with low fever mider which the 
patient soon sinks. Occasionally, a line of 
demarcation is formed between the dead and 
living parts, and granulations spring up oa 



TOPOGRAPHY 0F\ DACCA. 339 

the separation of the slough, but in the seve- 
ral cases in which J have observed this resto- 
rative effort made, I have never seen one in 
which cicatrization was completed, or in 
which the patient recovered. The sulphate 
of iron, in combination with vegetable tonics 
and purgatives in proportions suited to the 
stage of the disease and constitutional symp- 
toms, is the remedy from which the greatest 
benefit is derived, but unfortunately in many 
cases, its exhibition is contra-indicated by 
the co-existing inflammation of the mucous 
coat of the intestines. 

Dysentery and diarrhoea are both very pre- Dysentery 
valent during the rains and cold season, the "^ diarrhoea. 
former being in most cases the result of ex- 
posure to wet and cold, while the latter is 
i»ccasioned principally by the use of new rice, 
crude vegetables, morass water, and several 
species of oily fish. Diarrhoea is a most in* 
tractable disease, and is one that carries off 
annually, a considerable proportion of the 
native population. 

Hheumatism, in its sub- acute and chronic Rheumatism: 
forms, prevails to a great extent during the 
rainy and cold seasons, and appears to be 
frequently induced by bathing in the river 
during the latter time, and by the practice 
so common among the natives of wearing 
wet kummurbunds or cloths round the body. 
When the disease is general it seldom gives 
way to a less powerful remedy than calomel 



340 TOPOGRAFHT OF DACCA:. 

and opium, so a3 to affect the system. An 
abuse of mercitry, however, or this mineral, 
as it is administered by native practitioners 
in cases of syphilis, is one of the most fret 
quent predisposing causes of the disease. 
This is usually practised here by inhaling the 
fumes of cinnabar, and by this mode of ex-- 
hibiting it, the patient generally becomes 
violently salivated in the course of 48 hours. 
Mercury, thus administered, frequently gives 
rise among the natives to obstinate rheuma-* 
tism, terminating in contracted joints, nodes 
and caries of the bones ; and in not a few 
cases, to permanent closure of the jaw, the 
result apparently of inflammation around the 
glenoid cavity. 

SmaiLpoY. Small-pox generally makes its appearance 
in February, March and April, and in season^ 
when the weather is dry with strong winds. 
Hepatitis and enteritis in their acute forms 
are not uncommon among the natives at this 
time and require a pretty free use of th,e 
lancet. 

jioS!.7«u«h Catarrh, hooping cough and bronchitis are 
andbroiichiUf. ^iscascs of commou occurreuce during th,e 
rains, and the latter, which frequently as- 
sumes a severe form among children, gene* 
rally requires active treatment. Croup and 
laryngitis are comparatively rare, but asth- 
ma and chronic bronchitis prevail to a great 
extent among old people, during the cold 
season* 



XOPaGRAPHT OF DACCA^ 



341 



Ophthalmia i8 rery prevalent, particularly OpbthaimiA. 
in the low alluvial lands, and in the vicinity of 
the Ariel morass of the first tract : it is here 
a very, general disease on the subsidence of 
the inundation, and it is attributed by the 
natives to the exhalations from the wet crops. 
From neglect or want of proper treatment it 
terminates in a majority of cases in opacities 
of the cornea, thickening of the conjunctiva, 
and entropium, all of which are frequently 
to be met with here. 



Affections of the lining membrane of the 
nose, throat, and ear frequently present 
themselves among the persons applying for 
medical aid at the Native Hospital. The 
well known disease called '^ Nakra," which 
appears to depend upon a highly congested 
state of the vessels of the pituitary mem- 
branes and frontal sinuses, is here particu* 
larly common, and like several other diseases 
in this part of the country, it frequently 
assumes a periodic character, or recurs at 
changes of the moon. It is generally at- 
tended with smart fever and severe pain 
across the forehead : the common mode of 
treatment adopted by the natives, as is well 
known, consists in lacerating the turgid 
vessels of the affected membrane with a fine 
reed, when the free flow of blood usually 
brings relief. Thickening of the membrane 
and also suppuration and ulceration (not 
unfrequently produced perhaps by the above 



Nakra. 



S42 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA/ 



Cutaneous 
diseases. 



Syphilis. 



practice) are of common occurrence while 
nasal polypus is by no means rare. Affec- 
tions of the mouth in the form of ulcers of the 
tongue and tonsils, and diseases of the ear in 
the shape of thickening and suppuration of 
its mucous coat, are almost equally common 
as the chronic complaints of the nares. 

The most common cutaneous diseases are 
leprosy, ring-worm, itch, herpes and icthy- 
osis. The former prevails to a great extent 
in the city, and is to be seen in all its various 
stages from the spotted skin to the entire des- 
truction of all the tissues of the part attacked. 

Syphilis is a disease, no less common than 
leprosy, is often to be seen in its worst forms : 
phagedenic sores induced by an abuse of 
mercury are frequent as well as cases of the 
entire destruction of the nose and palate, 
especially in those tainted with lepra« 

Idiopathic gangrene, anthrax and sphace'*^ 
lating ulcers are diseases that frequently 
occur in the town. The latter in particular 
are often met with in persons labouring under 
disease of the spleen. 



Dyspepsia. Dyspcpsia in all its various shapes is com- 
mon among all classei?. One variety of it 
called " pet sool" appears to be very preva- 
l^it among ganjah smokers : it is attended 
with excessive sensibility of the pyloric 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. S43 

region of the stomach : food, however bland, 
is rejected about an hour after it has been 
taken, and is accompanied with violent vomit- 
ing, succeeded by rigid spasm of the abdo- 
minal muscles and most excruciating pain, 
during which the patient rolls about on the 
floor in the greatest agony. Anodynes pro- 
cure but temporary relief: the patients be- 
come emaciated and feeble, and after linger- 
ing for some time in this state, at last sink 
under the disease. 

Intestinal worms constitute one of the most Worms. 
common diseases to which the natives of 
Bengal are subject. The common round 
worm, Asoarides and Taenia, are all prevalent^ 
but there is also a fourth variety of species of 
the genus distoma that not unfrequently occurs 
and gives rise to several serious complaints 
as epilepsy, colic and dropsy. This worm 
is called ''Chattuah" in the Bengallee and 
^^ Breddhu-neebhu" in the Sanscrit language, 
and is said by the native doctors here to be 
of more frequent occurrence than the Taenia. 
This species of which I lately sent a specimen 
to the Medical and Physical Society, I have 
called ^^ Distoma Intestinate," to distinguish 
it from the Distoma Hepaticum whose habitat 
as its name implies, is the liver or its ducts* 
Specific character of the D. Intestinate. Body 
flat, ovate thin, and firm to the touch, with 
its margin well defined ; head a small trian- 
gular point a(i<i somewhat incurved ; pores 



344 ' TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

approximate the anterior or terminal one, a 
minute point scarcely visible without the aid of 
a magnifying glass, the posterior pore situated 
at the distance of half a line from the anterior 
one and surrounded with a cartilaginous ring 
projecting, orbicular and about half a line in 
diameter and having in front of it a small 
white tubercle; colour dark red, size from 
one to one and a quarter of an inch in length 
and half an inch in breadth ; habitat small 
intestines. The difference between the D. 
Intestinate and D. Hepaticum as they occur 
in the human subject, consists chiefly in the 
relative situation of their pores. In the 
former the posterior pore is in juxta-position 
with the anterior one, whilst in the-latter this 
pore is subventral and situated about the 
middle of the body. The D. Intestinate is 
also considerably larger and its body thinner 
but of a firmer structure and in shape more 
obtuse anteriorly than the D. Hepaticum. 
The remedy that the native practitioners here 
employ for the expulsion of this worm is a 
compound of the black sulphuret of mercury,, 
nux vomica, Butea frondosa and erycibe pani- 
culata. 

Maniacs. Betwecu the years 1827 and 1837, seven 
hundred and fifty-seven patients afflicted 
with mania were admitted into the Lunatic 
Asylum at this station. Of this number 658 
were males and 99 females ; the greater por- 
tion of whom were between the ages 30 and 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 



345 



40. The following is a statement of their 
occupations and condition in life prior to their 
admission : 



Ghushtas or agricul- *> 
tural labourers, ••• 3 

FakeerS) » 14 

Brahmins, ••• 13 

Sepoys, 8 

Prostitutes, 7 

Servants, 5 

Barbers, 3 

Tailors, , 8 

Byragees, 2 

Weavers, 2 

Washermen, 2 

Milkmen, 2 

Ruifogurs, 1 



Jraercnants, •••••••••••^••* 

Burkundazes, 

Cooks, 

Pansarees or druggists. 

Singers, 

Rice sellers, 

Bearer, 

Goldsmith, 

Bricklayer, 

Sweeper, «••• 

Dhangy,... 

Armenian, 



Total, ... 757 



The number of admissions into the Asylum 
cannot be considered as affording a criterion 
of the prevalence of the disease among the 
native population as it is generally only those 
virho have committed some acts of violence 
which have been reported to Magistrates, 
that are put under restraint. This is appa* 
rent also from the great difference in the 
number admitted from this and the neigh- 
bouring districts, between the years 1831 
and 1837. 



Dacca, 235 Mymensing, 19 

Tipperab, 35 Chittagong, 18 

Backergunge^ ,...,« 28 NoacoUy, ....« 14 

Furreedpore, ^,,. 24 Assam, t 4 

2 u 



346 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Hydrophobia. The average number of deaths from hydro- 
phobia in the city is about four per year.' 
Persons, who happen to be bitten by dogs in 
the town, frequently repair to the hospital to 
have their wounds dressed, and in most in^ 
stances they willingly submit to the excision 
of the part. This operation, with the long 
continued ablution of the cut surface by a 
stream of water from a kettle or a bheestee s 
mussack, and the subsequent cauterization of 
the part with the nitrate of silver, is the mode 
of treatment adopted here, and.I have never 
known a case of the disease to occur after it. 
The cases of hydrophobia tliat do occur, are 
those in which primary treatment has alto- 
gether been neglected, and commonly hap- 
pen among persons living at a distance from 
the hospital. In the different cases of hydro- 
phobia that have fallen under my observation, 
two months has been the average time that has 
intervened between the infliction of the bite 
and the accession of the second stage of the 
malady, and three days its average duration 
after the development of all the symptoms* 
Occasionally, a slight accidental injury to 
the wounded part, after it has healed up, and 
is free from pain or swelling, acts as the 
proximate or immediate exciting cause of t^e 
disease, and developes the whole train of 
hydrophobic symptoms. A case of this kind 
l^as been described by the late Dr. Adam in 
the Transactions of the Medics^l apd Physical 
Society, and I have seen two instances of a 
similar nature. In one of these cases the 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 347 

patient had been bitten on the great toe, but 
ifce wound which was very slight soon healed 
up, and he felt no inconvenience from the 
injury, until about seven weeks after its in- 
fliction when a bystander happened to tread 
slightly upon his foot, while he was attending 
an auction. In a few hours afterwards in- 
flammation of the part supervened and on 
the following day when I was first called to 
see him, he was suffering under all the ago- 
nies of the disease. It was a doctrine of the 
Arabian school, that in hydrophobia little dogs 
are generated in the urine, and that the re- 
covery of the patient could only be effected 
by remedies that produced their expulsion. 
The same opinion is held by the Mussulmaun 
and Hindoo practitioners here, and accord- 
ingly all their medicines are given with the 
view of increasing the action of the kidnies, 
and of expelling the embryo puppies ; the 
urine of the patient is carefully examined by 
them, and their prognosis is regulated by the 
appearance it presents, in reference to this 
supposed cause of the disease. Of the va- 
rious remedies consisting of opium, stramo- 
nium, prussic acid, the vapour bath, &c. 
which I have used in this disease I have 
never seen more than a temporary alleviation 
of the symptoms produced by any of them. 

Of other nervous diseases epilepsy is per- Epilepsy. 
haps the most common, paralysis and apo- ApoSxy.*"^ 
plexy oc^casionally occur, but tetanus either 
idiopathic or traumatic is comparatively rare. 



348 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

Diieases of Of diseases incidental to artizans, impaired 
sight and nyctalopia, occasionally terminating 
Amaurosis, in amaurosis, are common among spinners. 
Lumbago, weavcrs, and washermen ; and lumbago 
Ephidrosis. among shell cutters. Ephidrosis, or partial 
sweating, a disease almost unknown in Eu- 
rope, is here frequently met wdth in per- 
sons engaged in sedentary occupations, as 
among tailors, embroiderers, writers, &c. 
The hands and feet are the parts generally 
affected, and they present the appearance 
of having been recently immersed in water. 
The sweat runs off in large drops and no 
sooner is the part dried or wiped with a 
cloth, than it again becomes bedewed with 
moisture. In cases of long standing the 
palms of the hands have a shrunk and 
delicate appearance and many of the pati- 
ents complain of a pricking 6r tingling sen- 
sation in them. The disease occurs in per- 
sons of different constitutions and ages : the 
youngest subject of it that I have seen 
was a tailor's apprentice about 12 years 
old. In general it increases in intensity 
during the cold season, and is at this 
time not unfrequently accompanied with di- 
minished secretion of urine. Ephidrosis is 
often attended with so much inconvenience 
to the patient, as to incapacitate him from 
following his occupation or profession. I 
have used tonics and astringents, including 
the preparations of iron, and the mineral 
acids in this disease, but without producing 
any good effect. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 349 

The accidents that most frequently occur Accidents. 
in this part of the country, are fractures and 
dislocations occasioned generally by falls from 
trees ; and wounds and injuries inflicted by 
wild hogs, buffaloes, leopards, tigers, sharks, 
alligators, and by several species of fish 
armed with spines, as the ray singio, and 
moongree, &c. The wounds from the tusks Wounds. 
of the hog, are generally short, and incised 
and very numerous, a patient often present- 
ing upwards of twenty cuts on his limbs, 
back and different parts of the body : they 
are generally pretty deep extending to the 
muscles, which appear, as if divided with a 
knife. The injuries inflicted by leopards and 
tigers, in most of the cases that are brought 
to the Native Hospital, are lacerated wounds 
occasioned by a blow with the paw of the 
animal, and are always accompanied with a 
great deal of contusion, even in cases where 
there is but little abrasion of the surface. 
Sloughing of the subjacent cellular mem- 
brane, and the subsequent formation of 
troublesome sinuses, are the usual termina- 
tions of injuries of this kind. The principal 
danger in these cases, arises from secondary 
hemorrhage, which I have often seen to occur 
after the wound had assumed a healthy gra- 
nulating appearance. It is apt to occur in 
subjects labouring under diseased spleen 
where the blood is attenuated, and not in a 
state apparently to produce an internal coagu- 
lum or plug in an artery of moderate size. 
In a case of tliis kind which lately occurred 



■«P^>.«a« 



450 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

in the Native Hospital, the wound, which was 
one of considerable size and situated over 
the deltoid muscle, presented a clean granu- 
lating surface, with the exception of one part, 
where there was a speck of sphacelus not 
larger than a garden pea ; it was found to be 
situated over the mouth of an artery and 
extended apparently along its sheath to some 
distance, causing ulceration of the coats of the 
vessel, a few hours after the application of a 
ligature. Besides ligatures compression with 
sponge was also tried, but the hemorrhage 
continued to recur for several days until at 
last its suppression was effected by moderate 
pressure on the subclavian artery, kept up 
for several days, during which time granur 
lations and a coagulum were formed round 
the mouth of the vessel. Wounds by buffa^ 
loes and alligators, are more frequently fatal» 
than injuries by leopards or tigers. Per- 
sons gored by the former seldom recover, and 
in wounds caused by alligators, the knee 
joint is generally involved in the injury and 
unless the patient submits to amputation, the 
result is always fatal. It seldom happens, 
that a native will consent to this latter opera- 
tion, and opportunities occasionally occur, 
therefore, of witnessing spontaneous cures in 
cases of gangrene. I have seen the line of 
demarcation between the dead and living 
parts, form half way up the leg, leaving the 
tibia, fibula, and bones of the footquite bare, 
and obliging the patient at last to submit to 
their separation. Accidents from hogs, tigers. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 351 

and leopards, occur principally in the north- 
ern division, and chiefly to ryotts, wood 
cutters and boatmen. The jungles swarm 
with these animals ; tigers and leopards are 
frequently seen in the suburbs, and the latter 
have been killed in the very heart of the city. 
Wounds of the hand inflicted with the ser- 
rated osseous spines in the pectoral and dorsal 
fins of the singio fish (silurus singio) moong- 
ree (macronopterus magur) and of several 
species of the genus pimelodus are of com- 
mon occurrence, and are frequently very 
severe. The pain and inflammation extend 
up the arm, and are often followed by slough- 
ing of the tendons and caries of the bone. 
Fishermen are not unfrequently wounded by 
sharks and rays : the latter inflict a very 
severe wound with the spine upon its caudal 
fin, and instances of persons being killed by 
it (of which Williamson in hi^ Field Sports of 
India, mentions one,) occasionally occur. The 
other accidents, next to fractures, disloca- 
tions and wounds that most frequently occur, 
are burns and scalds. The new method of 
treating this class of injuries, by applying 
layers or flakes of carded cotton to the part, 
does not appear to be well adapted to this 
country, especially in the hot weather and 
rains : in several cases in which I have tried 
it the larvoe of insects were generated in such 
quantities on the commencement of the sup- 
purative stage, that it became necessary in 
all of them to remove the envelope and have 
recourse to the usual mode of treatment. 



352 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 



Number of - The following IS a statement of cases of 
in the district sudden death occurring in the district^ 
andT^"?. between the years 1830 and 1837 inclusive^ 

and reported by the police officers to the 

Magistrate during that period. 



Suicides, , , . 

„ by strangulation, 

Death by drowning, 

snakes, . . • -. ... ... 

lightning, 

poison, 

falls from trees, 

assaults, &c 

tigers, 

hogs, 

buffaloes, 

alligators, 

gunshot wounds, 

abortion, 

from homicides and miscelO 

1, j 



>> 



91 



» 



» 



» 



>» 



» 



>> 



» 



>» 



>» 



» 



laneous causes not mentioned, 



Total 






5 



4 
21 
30 
3 
3 
3 
9 
8 
2 
2 
8 
3 


45 







I 





8 . 
20 
26 

3 

3 





3 

1 



6 



7 

30 



103 



;».*^?'J"'n * Wounds and contusions of the head inflict- 

into I be Na- 
tive f^spitai ed ^ith bamboo clubs or lateeahs in affrays 

from affrsyt ' 

and atMuitf . and assaults in the district, fonn a consider- 
able . proportion of the cases admitted into 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DA€CA. 35S 

the Native Hospital. These injuries, though 
frequently severe and accompanied with frac- 
ture, are very seldom attended with ultimate 
serious consequences, as separation of the dura 
mater, and suppuration beneath the bone ; 
and of several hundred cases of this kind 
which have been treated in the Hospital dur- 
ing the last ten years, not one has occurred 
to require the use of the trephine. Of this 
operation, there have been only two instances 
during that period, one on account of frac- 
ture with depression occasioned by a fail, and 
the other in a case of coma, arising from a 
tumour of the dura mater : of these two 
cases, the first recovered. Cases of wounds 
inflicted with swords and spears are compara- 
tively rare : these weapons are seldom used, 
except by up-country burkundazes and ser- 
vants in the employment of s&emindars, and 
the effects of the use of them are therefore 
only occasionally seen. The cases that most cases that 
frequently present themselves for operation mWm for^!™i 
are, 1st, chronic abscesses which are here ^oJjf ^^"*" 
particularly common among all classes, and 
persons of all ages. 2d, cataract, fistula, 
lachrymalis, entropium and pterygium, of 
which there are numerous cases. 3d, encyst- 
ed and other tumours, including pendulous 
tumours of the ear. 4th, ascites and ovarian 
dropsy, particularly the former, which is a 
common case for operation. 5th, hydrocele 
is a common complaint here, but the natives 
in general prefer the radical cure by caustic, 
as practised by their own doctors to the 

2 w 



354 



TOPOGKAPHY OF DACCA. 



Stricture!. 



Calculi. 



European mode, by injection^ and the cases 
operated on in the Hospital are therefore com* 
paratively few in number. 6th, hemorrhoid 
dal tumours are treated by the native prac* 
titioners by the application of an arsenical 
caustic which is always productive of much 
suffering and great constitutional disturbance. 
7th, strictures and retention of urine are com* 
mon, and the introduction of the catheter is 
one of the minor operations that is almost 
daily performed at the hospital : during the 
last eight years there have been only two 
cases of puncture of the bladder. 8th, urina- 
ry calculus is a disease that occasionally 
presents itself: during the last two years 
lithotomy has been performed five times at 
this hospital, and all the patients, with the 
exception of one in whom there was a diseased 
condition of the coats of the bladder, recover* 
ed ; calculi in the urethra occasionally occur, 
and within the last five years four of these 
concretions have been extracted at the hos* 
pital. 9th, inguinal and femoral hernioe are 
rare, but umbilical and ventral ruptures are 
common ; cases in a state of strangulation 
Congenital howcvcr, rarely occur. 10th, of congenital 

diieasea. ,. , • i i i. i 

diseases, phymosis and hare lip are perhaps 
the most common, spina bifida and cataract 

Aneurism, are rare. 11th, of true aneurism or cancer 
I have not seen any cases here. Persons 
belonging to the lower classes of Mussul- 
mauns and Hindoos in the city frequently 
apply to European practitioners for obstetric 

Parturition, assistaucc. In this country, parturition . is a 



Hernice. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 355 

process which is in general attended with 
little difficulty, though it frequently happens 
that either by the neglect or rude and offici- 
ous interference of the midwives, the natural 
stages of it are interrupted or retarded, ren- 
dering the exhibition of medicine or manual 
assistance necessary. The cases that most 
frequently happen are tedious labours arising 
from deficient uterine action and premature 
rupture of the membranes, preternatural la- 
bours and retention of the placenta. Arm 
presentations form a large proportion of the 
preternatural cases that occur, and among 
them I have seen one of spontaneous evolu- 
tion. Retention of the placenta is common, 
but I have only met with two cases of uterine 
hemorrhage, in both of which the accident 
arose from the attachment of the placenta 
over the os uteri. Most of the deaths that 
occur in the puerperal state among the 
native women here, are occasioned by the 
use of stimulants after delivery. There is a 
compound of various drugs which is sold in 
the city, and of which the women in this state 
consider it requisite to take until the dis- 
appearance of the lochia : the use of this 
medicine and the practice of keeping the 
apartment shut up with a fire in it, even in 
the hottest weather, frequently brings on 
faysteritis that terminates fatally. Among the 
Hindoos, in the case of a woman dying un- 
delivered, the dead child is extracted by the 
Coesarian operation before the corpse is burn- 



356 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA; 

ed, and among the MussulmaunB there is a 
separate place of interment. 

HMpiilh ^^^ medical establishments in the city are 

the Native Hospital, Lunatic Asylum, Jail 
Hospital, Military Hospital and the Vaccine 
Department. The fir«t was instituted in 
1803 as a branch of the Calcutta Native Hos- 
pital ; it is supported by a donation of rupees 
150 per month and a supply of medicines 
from Government, and also by the interest 
of a fund of rupees 22,000 raised by a sub- 
scription among the European and native 
inhabitants of the city. The average number 
of persons who have received advice and 
medicine gratis during the last four years, 
amounts to 2,610 per year. Of this number 
of persons a considerable proportion are 
out-patients, who either attend diaily ait 
the hospital or are visited at their own 
houses. The hospital itself has accommoda* 
tion only for 40 patients, and is altogether a 
confined and badly planned building, and one 
by no means well adapted for the purpose for 
which it was erected. It was greatly im- 
proved by Mr. Walters, and more lately 
by Mr. J. Grant, by whom a dispensary and 
out-houses were erected. The building con- 
sists of one ward 72 feet in length by 12 in 
breadth, having a verandah on the north and 
south, each about 8 feet wide, and terminated 
by a closet at each end. The patients that 
usually present themselves for admission into 



•TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA; SS7 

it are poor, friendless and destitute persons, 
who are sick and unable to work or beg ; 
strangers and travellers who happen to be 
taken ill at the station and of whom boatmen 
form a large proportion ; and persons wound- 
ed by accident or in affrays, of whom a con- 
siderable number come from the country. 
The Lunatic Asylum and Jail Hospital are Lunatic 
situated at the west end of the town, in the "^ ™* 
vicinity of the choke. The former was built 
in 1819, it is a commodious and well designed 
building, surrounded by a large garden in 
which the convalescent patients are employed 
to work. The principal part of this building 
consists of an open quadrangle, 54 by 35 feet, 
with two ranges of cells sheltered by veran- 
dahs. These cells which are 14 in number, 
are each 10 feet in length by 6 in breadth, 
with two doors which admit of a free circu- 
lation of air through the apartment. Com- 
municating with this quadrangle, there is a 
court 57 feet long by 34 broad, in which there 
is a ward of a corresponding length and about 
17 feet wide. Apart from this court there is 
a ward appropriated for convalescents, and in 
a separate part of the garden and divided 
from the above by a cross wall, there is a set 
of apartments consisting of 3 wards with 
verandahs for female patients. The height of 
the different cells and wards in this Asylum is 
about 12 feet and that of the doors 6 feet by 
4 in breadth. The out-houses, drains and 
wells are all puckah or brick built. The Jail Jail Hospiui. 
Hospital consists of one building 70 feet in 



358 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

length by 24 in breadth; and is divided 
longitudinally into two wards by a wall 
with five open arches. It has an open veran- 
dah on the north and another on its 
southern side, and at each end of the building a 
room 18 feet by 8 for the reception of par- 
ticular cases. The Military Hospital situ- 
ated in the cantonments in the suburbs is a 
large airy building, consisting of one apart- 
ment, surrounded by a verandah and capa- 
ble of containing 70 patients. At a short 
distance from it there is a temporary mat 
building which is used as an hospital when 
there is much sickness prevailing : it is about 
the same size as the former. 

Disease Qf discascs occurring among the lower 

Among the ^ ^ 

^h'T "h""b'^'* animals the most important is hydrophobia. 
It frequently prevails to a considerable ex- 
tent in the hot weather, especially in seasons, 
when there is little rain and the creeks in 
the interior soon dry up. The town is infest- 
ed with pariah dogs, while the neighbouring 
jungles abound with jackals, and in many 
instances, the disease is directly imparted by 
the latter to the former. In the country the 
disease is frequently communicated direct by 
the jackal, to the human subject, and in- 
stances are common of these animals when 
infected with hydrophobia : running into vil- 
lages and attacking the inhabitants in their 
huts. I have seen a number of cases in which 
the virus was directly communicated by thi^ 
animal: in an instance that occurred lately 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 359 

in this part of the country no fewer than 17 
persons in one place were bitten while asleep 
at night. In the hot weather, and especially 
in seasons of drought, the well known erup- 
tive disease called matta appears among cattle, MBtta. 
and is often very destructive in the neigh- 
bouring villages. In the unusually hot and 
dry weather that occurred in the months of 
April, May and June, 1837, it occasioned 
great mortality among the cattle of the dis- 
trict, especially in the northern division, and 
also in Mymensing, where several thousands 
of bullocks perished from it. A disease 
somewhat allied to it prevailed at the same 
time in the Company's depot of elephants at 
this station. This disease, in most of the 
cases, was preceded by the refusal of food 
and a discharge of blood from the urinary 
passage, to which there succeeded swelling of 
the glands in several parts of the body and 
paralysis of the hind extremities ; while in 
others it was sudden in its invasion, the ele- 
phant after a fit of tremor or delirious excite- 
ment, suddenly dropping down dead. It 
attacked males and females of different ages, 
and under different circumstances with refer- 
ence to the length of time they had been in 
the depot, and to their food, drink and shelter. 
Twenty-five died in the course of two months, 
and of ten dissections that took place, all the 
bodies presented morbid appearances in the 
head and abdomen, consisting of a highly 
congested state of the vessels of the pia mater 
and effusion into the ventucles, and of inflam- 



S60 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

mation of the mucous coat of the stomach 
and bowels. In many of the cases blood was 
found extravasated into the ventricles, and in 
all of them the cerebrum and medulla oblon- 
gata were highly vascular, presenting when 
cut with the knife innumerable points, the 
mouths of divided vessels. The inflamma- 
tion of the lining membrane of the alimen- 
tary canal partook in some measure of an 
exanthematous character; it shewed itself in 
circular spots of a livid colour, distinct, well 
defined and of a size varying from that of a 
pea to the bulk of a rupee or shilling. The 
mesenteric glands were greatly enlarged and 
indurated with an infiltration of serum around 
them, and in most of the carcases that were 
opened, the lymphatic glands in the regions 
corresponding to the axilla and inguen pre- 
sented appearances of disease like that of 
the mesentery. Worms were found in all the 
subjects and consisted of three kinds, viz. the 
€ommon filiaria and two species of distoma: 
Of the latter one of the species was distin- 
guished by a depressed disc situated upon its 
under surface between the anterior and poste- 
rior pores and covered with innumerable mi- 
nute points apparently the mouths of vessels. 
The only remedy which was likly to be any 
use, viz. bloodletting was tried in one case. 
A vein in the ear was opened, but as the 
quantity of blood {\^ lb.) which was drawn 
off in this way, was too small to be of any 
avail in arresting the progress of the disease, 
the experiment was not repeated. 



361 



:otaI. 





12 

6 

5 



5 

I 

3 

7 

^ 

4 

P 

i 

B 



Q 




2 
27 
8 
89 


2 
6 
1 
5 
1 

I 
8 
11 

156 



A table of 
disetces ad- 
mitted into 
Regimental 
l^ospital be- 
tween 1828 
and 18S7. 



i 



4 



4 






TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 363 



CHAPTER XII. 

Concluding remarks on the decline of manufac- 
tures and population and on the general 
decay of the City — Means and suggestions 
regarding its improvement. 

Dacca, although for many years, the cauaeof 
metropolis of the country, was perhaps less ^Inu^^ltw^l 
indebted to this circumstance than to its far J"on.^®^"^ 
famed manufactures and extensive commerce, 
for the numerous population and great opu- 
lence it formerly possessed. The weaving 
of muslins, together with the cultivation of 
cotton, spinning and bleaching, appears to 
have been the chief occupation of the Hindoos 
of this district from the earliest period of its 
history ; while the art of embroidery has 
constituted the principal branch of industry 
among its Mahommedan inhabitants here, 
from the time they conquered the country. 
It was during the Moghul Government, and 
especially in the reigns of Jehangire, Sha 
Jehan and Aurenzebe, ^hen the city was in 
its most flourishing condition that those gos- 
samer-like muslins were made, which have 
been compared ** to the work of fairies rather 
than of men," and which constituted " the 
richest gift that Bengal could ofier to her 
Native Princes." The manufacture of these 
inimitable fabrics (^the Malbus Khas) for the j 

2 X i 

I? 



i 



364 TOPOXJRAPHY OF DACCA. 

Imperial wardrobe at Delhi and for the dif- 
ferent Viceregal Courts throughout Hindos- 
tan, exercised the ingenuity of the most skil- 
ful workmen, while the provisien of the annu- 
al investments of plain muslins and of tht^ 
various kinds of embroidered or ^lixed silk 
and cotton fisibrics for Persia, Ethiopia,. Egypt, 
Syria, Turkey, Italy, Languedoc, Proveijice 
and Spain, afforded ample employment to the 
great body of the people. The Dacca mus- 
lins were introduced into England betweei^ 
the years 1666 and 1670, and from this time the 
English^ some years prior to it the Dutch, 
and subsequently the French, carrijed on an 
extensiye t^ade here up to year 1787, in which 
year the whole commerce of Dacca was estir 
mated at 1 crore of rupees or 1^ milliQU sterr 
ling. Although the commercial prosperity 
of Dacca had been in a declining state for 
some time previous to the acquisition of the 
country by the English, yet there can be no 
doubt that it received its most severe shock 
from the introduction of mule twist in 1785, 
in which year no less than 500,000 pieces of 
muslin were manufactured in Eqgland. From 
1788 to 1803 is considered the golden age of 
the cotton trade in Britain, and while her 
manufactures increased in extent under the 
magic influence of steam, were improved by 
mechanical invention, and fostered by a pro* 
tecting duty of 75 per cent., those of Dacca» 
from this imposition of high duties acting as 
a virtual prohibition of thoir importation into 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 365 

England, declined year after year, until at 
length they ceased to be an object of com- 
merce. The exports of muslins to England 
in 1787 amounted in value to 30 lacs of ru- 
pees : in 1807 they were only Q^ lacs: in 
1813 they had decreased to 3|- lacs : and in 
>8 17 they altogether ceased and the Commer- 
cial Residency was abolished. In 1825, the 
duty on Indian cotton goods was reduced by 
Mr. Huskisson, to an ad valorem duty of 10 per 
cent., but this reduction has had little influ- 
ence in increasing the exportation of Bengal 
muslins, and the little benefit that has occurred 
fVom it has been counterbalanced in a tenfold 
degree by the influx of British thread into 
the country. In 1821 the first great impor- 
tation of English twist took place: in 1827 it 
amounted to lbs 3,063,556: and in 1831 to 
lbs 66,24,823, and since 1828 this yam has 
been used here almost to the entire exclusion 
of the country thread. From this recapitu- 
lation of the more prominent facts connected 
with the great sources of industry in this part 
of the country, it will be seen that the com- 
mercial history of Dacca presents but a 
melancholy retrospect. In the space of 30 
years, its trade with England, which amount- 
ed to as many lacs of rupees, became extinct 
and more lately its other great staple, the 
manufacture of embroidered cloths for Egypt 
and Turkey has been gradually declining 
and in a few years more it will in all proba- 
bility entirely cease. The manufacture of 



306 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA, 

thread, the occupation in former times of 
almost every family in the district is now, 
owing to the comparative cheapness of Eng-* 
lish thread, almost entirely abandoned, and 
thus the arts of spinning and weaving, which 
for ages have afforded employment to a 
numerous and industrious population, have in 
the course of 60 years; passed into other hands 
that supply the wants not only of foreign 
nations, but of the rivalled country itself. 
This decline of manufactures and commerce, 
as may be naturally expected, has occasioned 
a diminution of the population of the city. 
In 1 800 the inhabitants were 200,000, but now 
they do not amount to more than 68,038 in 
number, according to the census of 1838. 
Poverty has increased in a far greater ratio 
than population has decreased, a fact which 
is ascertained from the records of the chokee- 
daree or assessed police tax, (the only avail- 
able criterion of judging of the general con- 
dition of the people) which shew that from 
1814 to 1838 the collections have fallen from 
rupees 31,600 to rupees 10,000. In conse- 
quence of all these changes, many families 
who were formerly in a state of affluence are 
now reduced to comparative poverty, while 
the majority of the people belonging to the 
lower classes, are from want of work in a 
very destitute condition, and are glad to pro- 
cure any employment, however unsuited to 
their previous habits, to enable them to earn 
a subsistence for themselves and families. 



TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 367 

The town presents symptoms of decay cor- Gen«pai decay 
responding with the diminished population ^ ' ^ ^"^' 
and reduced circumstances of its present 
inhabitants. A great number of houses are 
unoccupied or in a state of ruin. Drains, 
ghauts, laneSy and bridges are neglected from 
the want of funds to keep them in repair. 
The suburbs are overrun with jungle, while 
the interior of the town is filled with stag- 
nant canals and sinks, containing refuse 
animal and yegetable matters, which taint the 
water of the neighbouring wells. Disease pre- 
vails as may be supposed, to a great extent, 
throughout all classes of the community, but 
especially among the poorer inhabitants in 
whom it is aggravated by their impoverished 
diet. It is chiefly dependent however on 
locality for its development, and has its origin 
in the unwholesome water and the numerous 
muddy canals and stagnant pools above men- 
tioned. These sources of malaria are extend- 
ing widely every year, and whilst impure 
exhalations thus generated, affect the great 
body of the people with disease, incurable 
maladies and infirmities of the most humi- 
liating character, are every where presented 
to our view in a crowd of wretched, helpless 
objects, who procure a precarious subsistence 
by begging in the streets. It will be admit- Cfencrai 

J oo o room for mu- 

ted therefore that there is here great room njcipai im- 

for municipal improvement, and a wide field 

open for the exercise of charity, and it is 

gratifying to observe that through the benevo- 



368 TOPOGRAPHY OP DACCA. 

Manificeot Icnce of the late Mr. M itford, of the Cml 
•iveiyforthe" Scrvice, these objects are likely' to be accom^ 
inbabitaiitfl of pHshed. That gentleman who had resided 
^^"^* for many years here, first as Collector, and 
afterwards as a Judge of the Provincial Court 
of Appeal, died in Europe in 1836, and left 
the bulk of his fortune amounting^ it is said, 
to between six and eight lacs of rupees, in 
trust to the Government of Bengal for the 
express purpose of applying the amount to 
charitable, beneficial and public works in the 
City of Dacca; "the intent of such bequest 
aAd direction being that the amount shall be 
applied exclusiviely to the benefit of the 
native inhabitants in the manner they and 
the Grovemment may regard most conducive 
to that end." In June 1837, the inhabitants 
of the city had a public meeting on the sub* 
ject, and addressed a memorial to the Court 
of Directors, soliciting their aid in securing 
and bringing into speedy operation this mu* 
nificent bequest. It is to be hoped, there- 
fore, that the money will be soon available 
for the objects contemplated by the testator; 
and if we may be allowed to offer suggestionsr 
as to its applications, we should say' that it 
cannot be more beneficially employed than 
in extending and improving the existing 
establishments and institutions of the city. 

For executing the various works falling 
within the province of the Conservancy De- 
pattmenty a sum of money accrtiing from the 



3W)POG.RAPHY OF DACCA* jSfl9 

tovu duties was formerly placed by Govern- ' 

ment at the disposal of a local committee by 
i¥ horn many great improvements ai»d works of 
great public utility were executed under the 
superintendance of Messrs. Dawes and Wal- 
ierg. This grant which amounted to about 1,600 
rupees per month was discontinued in 1829, 
since which time the only allowance that ha3 
been made on this account is the sum of 2^000 
rupees per year for maintaining a few carts 
and scavengers to clean the principal ^tre^ts 
and bazars. An addition to the Conservancy suggest io 
fund, therefore, ought to be made and to an [mpVo^^^^ 
extent sufficient not only for the. repairs of o^'^««'y« 
bridges, ghauts and drains, but also for carry- 
ing on improvements conducive to the general 
health, as the deepening of canals and the fill- 
ing up of sinks in the interior of the town, and 
the widening of streets and lanes. Fir^s are 
here particularly common, and occasion an- 
nually a great loss of property, and an estab- 
lishment of fire engines, therefore, would prove 
of great service to the public. The formation of Artesian 
Artesian wells would be highly desirable^ and ''®"'- 
from the indications of springs of water in 
the kunkur soil on which the city stands, 
there is reason to believe, that they might be 
made at no great expense. 

The Native Hospital, which was established 
iQ 1303, has received no addition to its funds 
Vy subscriptioQ during the last ten years, and 
is at present in a conditiQu inadequate to af- . ^ 



370 TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 

ford aid, from its limited establishment of ser- 
vants, to the various classes of poor persons 
who have claims on it. The building is small, 
ill ventilated, capable of containing only 40 
patients, and is altogether ill adapted to the 
Anewhos. purposc for which it was erected. A new 
q!»?rld"andlwo Hospital thercforc, on an improved plan, with 
dispensaries, accommodatiou for at least 100 patients, is 

much required. The establishment also of 
two dispensaries, one at each extremity of the 
town, would add greatly to the comfort and 
convenience of the poorer classes, many of 
whom, at present, are unable to attend at the 
Hospital on account of the great distance of 
their dwellings. 

There is now no " Lungur Khana," or re- 
fectory for the poor, as existed in the time of 
the Moghul Government, and the only insti- 
A charitable tutiou of the kind is the Charitable Fund, 
erby"he^Rev! which was fouudcd about four years ago by 
Mr. Shepherd. ^^^^ j^^^j jyj^ Shepherd. It distributes from 

80 (o 100 rupees a month among the more 
necessitous^ as the lame, blind and lepers. It 
might be extended therefore, and put on the 
same footing as the " District Charitable So- 
ciety" of Calcutta, and in connection with it 
a village in the suburbs should be assigned 
for the residence of Lepers. 

The City has been chiefly indebted to the 
Serampore Missionary Society for education. 
Twenty-nine schools, affording instruction in 



TOPOGRAPHY OF DACCA. 371 

Bengallee, Persian and English, have been con- 
ducted by the Revd. Mr. Leonard for upwards 
of 20 years, but from the want of funds they 
are now reduced to 7 in number, including the Reduction 
Christian School, which is supported by the from want of 
Calcutta Benevolent Institution. These schools 
have been productive of great benefit to the 
community, and considering that the testator, 
while a resident at the station, took great in- 
terest in them, it will be admitted that they 
have strong claims for support from the trustees 
of the bequest. 

In addition to the above institutions, the es- 
tablishment of a Female School of Industry 
and the extension of the English School would 
prove highly useful. 




FINIS. 



yit 



G, H, Huttmann, Bengal Military Orphan Pre$$, 



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ZS^P^rw^ ffSi' 



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